Suicide and Alcoholism: Distinguishing Alcoholic Patients With and Without Comorbid Drug Abuse

• NCJ Number: 175185
• Journal: American Journal on Addictions Volume: 6 Issue: 4 Dated: Fall 1997 Pages: 304-310
• Author(s): A Porsteinsson; P R Duberstein; Y Conwell; C Cox; N Forbes; E D Caine
• Date Published: 1997
• Length: 7 pages
• Grant Number(s): MH40381; MH18911; MH00748
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Health and Human Services
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Psychological autopsy data from 61 persons who committed suicide in Monroe County (N.Y.) between August 1989 and February 1992 were used to test the hypothesis that alcoholics with accompanying drug disorders are distinguishable from alcoholic suicide victims without a comorbid drug use disorder.

Abstract

The deceased included 26 persons who had both alcoholism and drug use disorders and 35 persons who had alcoholism only. All 61 had informants who knew their functional and symptomatic status during their last week of life. The dependent variables included demographics, suicidal behavior, psychiatric symptoms, and medical illnesses. Analyses controlled for age and gender and revealed that alcoholics without drug disorders were more likely than the other group to have had a comorbid major depression and less likely to tell someone that they were contemplating suicide. The scores on a measure of medical illness burden increased with age among the alcoholic group but not among with group with both alcoholism and drug disorders, although the latter more were likely to be under a physician's care with increasing age. Findings suggested that these differences should be considered when designing suicide prevention approaches. Tables and 22 references (Author abstract modified)