Citation

Henriksson MM, Isometsa ET, Hietanen PS, Aro HM, Lonnqvist JK. J. Affect. Disord. 1995; 36(1-2): 11-20.

Affiliation

Department of Mental Health National Public Health Institute, Helsinki, Finland.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1995, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

8988260

Abstract

Mental disorders among suicide victims who had suffered from cancer were investigated using psychological autopsy data on all suicides in Finland over 1 year. Retrospective DSM-III-R consensus diagnoses were assigned to all 60 cancer suicides and to 60 age- and sex-matched comparison suicides without a cancer history. Depressive syndromes were equally common along cancer suicides (80%) and others (82%). Alcohol dependence and personality disorders were more frequent among noncancer suicides. Major depression and substance abuse were more common among victims with cancer in remission than in terminal stages. Only a small minority of cancer suicides seem to occur in the absence of mental disorders.

Language: en