Bipolar Disorder and Its Relation to Suicide

Paper Summary:

This paper summarizes and critically analyzes three studies that focus on bipolar disorder and how strongly it correlates with both attempted and completed suicide. The first study, "A Comparison of the Medical Lethality of Suicide Attempts in Bipolar and Major Depressive Disorders" examines two diagnostic groups to determine whether individuals with bipolar disorder have higher rates of lethality in their suicide attempts than individuals with major depressive disorder. The second study, "Heterogeneity of the Risk of Suicidal Behavior in Bipolar-Spectrum," explores the connection between one's genetic makeup and his or her vulnerability to suicide and bipolar disorder. The third study, "Prospective Study of Risk Factors for Attempted Suicide Among Patients with Bipolar Disorder," examined common risk factors associated with suicide attempts. The rest of the paper discusses the purposes, hypotheses, assumptions, reasoning, alternate explanations, and trends in the studies. Lastly, the paper discusses the consequences that result from abnormal behavior from bipolar disorder.

From the Paper:

"For this study, researchers gathered a total of 307 individuals who had already been diagnosed with a mood disorder, which was a criterion one needed to meet in order to be included in this particular study. Sixty-six subjects had bipolar disorder I, 36 had bipolar disorder II, 2 had non-specified bipolar disorder and 203 had major depressive disorder. The second criterion that had to be met by all the subjects was that they had to have at least one previous suicide attempt in their medical/psychological history. Two diagnostic groups were formed from the total number of subjects, based on each person's diagnosis. Those with major depressive disorder made up one group while those with bipolar disorder made up the other. Each subject was then interviewed by a clinical psychologist or psychiatric nurse. In addition, they were each administered several assessments they were required to complete. These assessments included the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), the Brown-Goodwin Aggression Inventory (BG), the Barratt Impulsivity Scale (BIS), the Suicide Intent Scale (SIS), the Scale for Suicide Ideation (SSI) and Beck's Medical Lethality Scale (BMLS)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Cavazzoni, P., Grof, P., Duffy, A, Grof, E., Muller-Oerlinghausen, B., Berghofer, A., et al. (2007). Heterogeneity of the risk of suicidal behavior in bipolar-spectrum disorders. Bipolar Disorders, 9, 377-385.
• Rhimer, Z. & Kiss, K. (2002). Bipolar disorders and suicidal behaviour. Bipolar Disorders, 4, 21-25.
• Valtonen, H.M., Suominen, K., Mantere, O., Leppamaki, S., Arvilommi, P., & Isometsa, E.T. (2006). Prospective study of risk factors for attempted suicide among patients with bipolar disorder. Bipolar Disorders, 8, 576-585.
• Zalsman, G., Braun, M., Grunebaum, M.F., Sher, L., Burke, A. K., Brent, D.A., et al. (2006). A comparison of the medical lethality of suicide attempts in bipolar and major depressive disorders. Bipolar Disorders, 8, 558-565.

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