The psychobiology of aggressive behaviour.

Among psychiatric illnesses, genetically determined disorders usually have an early onset and a severe and complicated course. Gene-environmental interaction is of importance for aggressive impulsive behaviour. For example, alcoholism type II has a high family loading, a severe course, and is often associated with antisocial behaviour. In order to gain further understanding of aggressive and impulsive behaviour, genes determining serotonin metabolism, neurosteroids and carbohydrate metabolism should be of interest to investigate. Furthermore, modern brain-imaging studies will reveal the site of action of aggressiveness and impulsivity. Within brain regions of interest, biological studies will promote our knowledge of this deleterious behaviour

Salivary cortisol and suicidal behavior-A follow-up study.

INTRODUCTION: Hyperactivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)-axis is a common finding in major depressive disorder. Similar studies on suicide attempters are less abundant, and the results are divergent. The main aim of the present study was to investigate HPA-axis parameters by the time of a suicide attempt and at follow-up in search for associations between HPA-axis function and suicidal behavior. METHODS: Thirty-five suicide attempters and 16 non-suicidal controls were admitted to a psychiatric ward between the years of 1986 and 1992. Corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) in cerebrospinal fluid and urinary cortisol were obtained for the suicide attempters. The patients were followed up approximately 12 years after the index admission. Cortisol was measured in saliva, and additional suicide attempts and current psychiatric symptoms were registered. RESULTS: At follow-up, evening salivary cortisol was lower in suicide attempters compared to controls. Low cortisol levels at follow-up were associated with severe psychiatric symptoms. Among women, repeated suicide attempts were associated with low morning and lunch salivary cortisol, and in this subgroup we also found significant correlations between salivary cortisol at follow-up, and CRH as well as urinary cortisol at index. CONCLUSION: We found evidence for an association between low HPA-axis activity and suicidal behavior. This could be due to long-lasting and severe psychiatric morbidity, which in turn has exhausted the HPA-axis of these patients. The potential role of hypocortisolism should be given more attention in studies on suicidal patients

The role of dopamine and serotonin in suicidal behaviour and aggression

Serotonin and dopamine are two monoamines which are known to interact with each other. Their role for suicidal behaviour, aggression and mood are reviewed in this chapter. We found a substantial amount of evidence for the relevance of a serotonin and dopamine model of aggression, and for aggression as a major risk factor for suicide. Evidence was found that serotonin and dopamine also may be involved in depressed mood, and possibly the individual's ability to cope with imminent suicidality

Disentangling dysthymia from major depressive disorder in suicide attempters' suicidality, comorbidity and symptomatology.

Dysthymia and major depressive disorder (MDD) are both risk diagnoses for suicidal behaviour. The aim of the present study was to identify clinical differences between these disorders, with a special reference to dysthymia. We studied suicidal behaviour, comorbidity and psychiatric symptoms of inpatient suicide attempters with dysthymia and MDD. We used DSM III-R diagnostics, the Suicide Assessment Scale (SUAS) and the Comprehensive Psychopathological Rating Scale (CPRS), part of which is the Montgomery and Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS). Suicide mortality, number of repeated suicide attempts, method of suicide attempt and comorbidity of Axis I did not differ between the groups. Dysthymia patients, however, suffered more than MDD patients from DSM-III-R Axis II diagnoses (above all cluster B). There was no significant difference in Axis III comorbidity. Total SUAS, CPRS and MADRS scores did not differ significantly between the groups. When studying separate SUAS and CPRS items in a multivariate analysis, the CPRS items "aches and pains", "increased speech flow", increased "agitation" and "less tendency to worrying over trifles" as well as young age remained independently associated with dysthymia. Dysthymia patients, who later committed suicide, more often reported increased "aches and pains" than those who did not commit suicide. In this small sample of suicide attempters, we conclude that dysthymia suicide attempters, more often than MDD patients, have a comorbidity with personality disorders, which combined with a picture of aches and pains, could be factors explaining their suicidality

High Suicidal Intent Scores Indicate Future Suicide

he aim of this study was to scrutinize individual items as well as total scores of the Suicidal Intent Scale (SIS) in order to find out its usefulness for predicting suicide. Consecutive patients (N=555) were evaluated and rated with SIS shortly after a suicide attempt. When followed up at a mean time of 4.5 years, 22 (4%) had committed suicide. Those who later committed suicide had been scored significantly higher than those who did not commit suicide. In an effort to find a score-limit of the SIS which could be associated with future suicide, we formulated a receiver operating characteristic curve. From this we were able to detect a sensitivity of 90% and a specificity of 60.3% of scores of 19 and above in people aged 55 years and older. In a logistic regression analysis we also found that age above 55 years, mood disorder diagnoses and SIS scores of 19 or above significantly predicted suicide. Our conclusion is that the SIS could be a valuable tool in predicting suicide, especially in elderly suicide attempters

Deliberate self‐poisoning : repeaters and nonrepeaters admitted to an intensive care unit

Seventy‐nine patients admitted to the Lund Intensive Care Unit after deliberate self‐poisoning were investigated by a psychiatrist and a social worker by means of a semi structured interview. Suicide risk evaluation included statistical risk factors according to the SAD PERSONS Scale, severity of suicidal intent according to the Suicidal Intent Scale, and interviewer reaction according to Motto. Two‐thirds of the patients were in treatment or had had counselling with a social worker. More than half of the sample were repeaters. Compared with nonrepeaters, repeaters were less often employed, lacked social support and more often had relational problems. The majority of the repeaters had ongoing treatment, mostly psychiatric treatment. Repeaters more often acted impulsively, and their suicidal intent tended to be less severe than those of nonrepeaters. Interviewers more often reacted with negative or neutral feelings towards repeaters. Our results indicate that those who repeat suicidal behaviour differ from nonrepeaters. Self‐poisoners, and especially repeaters, often had ongoing or previous psychiatric treatment. For the repeater group it is important to consider their impulse dyscontrol and their hostile attitude when alternative treatment strategies are devised and evaluated

Suicidal intent and psychiatric symptoms among inpatient suicide attempters.

The objective of this study was to investigate associations between suicidal intent and psychiatric symptoms, and to study the usefulness of the Suicidal Intent Scale (SIS) and the Comprehensive Psychopathological Rating Scale (CPRS) for suicide risk assessment in an inpatient population. One hundred and ninety-six suicide attempters, of whom 15 eventually committed suicide, were admitted to a psychiatric ward. They were assessed by means of the SIS and the CPRS. Cox regression analyses were performed in order to adjust the relationships between the individual CPRS subscales and suicide for age and gender. The patients who later completed suicide had higher scores on the CPRS than the patients who did not complete suicide. We found no associations between symptoms and suicidal intent. The severity of psychopathology, in terms of high CPRS scores, shows a stronger association with future suicide than the level of suicidal intent (SIS) among inpatient suicide attempters. Suicidal intent is evidently scored regardless of psychiatric symptoms