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Certain behavior patterns often precede suicide attempts by people with major depression, suggesting signs that doctors can and should watch out for, a large study suggests.
The hallmarks of suicide risk may include
risky behavior, agitated behavior, impulsivity and the presence of "depressive mixed states" that include both depression and mania symptoms, the investigators say.
"The results of this study are important because they may guide clinicians (from GPs to specialists) to which symptoms to pay special attention to and to search for in any depressed patient," Dr. Dina Popovic, psychiatrist at the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, Spain, told Reuters Health by email.
"Due to the large number of patients in this study, we were able to identify specific symptoms which mostly increase the risk to attempt suicide," said Popovic, who led the study.
Results of the BRIDGE-II-MIX study were released August 30 at the 28th European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) Congress in Amsterdam.
The study included 2,811 patients suffering from depression, including 628 with a prior suicide attempt. The researchers tried to find differences in the characteristics and behaviors of those who did and did not attempt suicide.
They found that depressive mixed states, in which a patient is depressed but also has symptoms of excitation or mania, often precede suicide attempts. "
In fact, 40 percent of all the depressed patients who attempted suicide had a 'mixed episode' rather than just depression," Popovic said in a conference statement.
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