Suicide Prevention: 'Mixed Depression' Precedes Suicide Attempts, Says Study

A recent study has found significant patterns of behavior preceding most suicide cases.

The World Health Organization reports that there are around 800,000 suicide deaths annually, as such, measure have to be taken to prevent suicides from happening.

According to a press release via EurekAlert!, the BRIDGE-II-MIX study is a major international study that focused on depression and suicide. Researchers evaluated 2811 patients suffering from depression, and 628 of these had already attempted suicide.

Each patient was interviewed by a psychiatrist as if it was a normal, standard evaluation procedure for the mentally ill. Parameters included previous suicide attempts, family history, treatment history, clinical presentation and Global Assessment of Functioning scale scores, among others. The study also looked into the characteristics and behavior of those who had attempted suicide, and compared them to those who were depressed but have not attempted suicide.

It was found that there were certain behavior patterns evident preceding suicide attempts.

According to study author Dr. Dina Popovic of Barcelona, "depressive mixed states" often preceded suicide attempts. "A depressive mixed state is where a patient is depressed, but also has symptoms of "excitation", or mania," Popovic said.

This state is reportedly found more in patients who had already attempted suicide.

"In fact 40 percent of all the depressed patients who attempted suicide had a 'mixed episode' rather than just depression," Popovic added. "All the patients who suffer from mixed depression are at much higher risk of suicide."

It was also found that the standard method used for measuring is "missing a lot of patients at risk of suicide."

In a second analysis of the data, researchers concluded that if a depressed patient exhibits any of the following symptoms, their risk of attempting suicide is at least 50 percent or higher:

-risky behavior (for example: reckless driving, promiscuous behaviour);

-psychomotor agitation (for example: pacing around a room, wringing one's hands, pulling off clothing and putting it back on and other similar actions);

-impulsivity (for example: acting on a whim, displaying behaviour characterized by little or no forethought, reflection, or consideration of the consequences).

Dr Popovic continued:

"In our opinion, assessing these symptoms in every depressed patient we see is extremely important, and has immense therapeutical implications. Most of these symptoms will not be spontaneously referred by the patient, the clinician needs to inquire directly, and many clinicians may not be aware of the importance of looking at these symptoms before deciding to treat depressed patients."

Popovic further explained that this study gives an important message to all clinicians to pay attention to the symptoms. This study, she added, is after all one that's taken its data from the real world.