Frequency and gender differences of psychiatric medication intake in a
sample of suicide victims from the Athens Greater Area were investigated
with a particular focus on the implications for suicide prevention. Data
were collected from the toxicological analyses of the suicide cases of
the period November 2007-October 2009. Information was available for 262
individuals, 196 men (74.8%) and 66 women (25.2%); 109 of these
(41.6%) were receiving psychiatric medication(s). Women were
statistically more frequently under treatment: antidepressants (32.8%
vs. 11.3%, p < 0.001), antiepileptics (9.1% vs. 0.5%, p = 0.001),
antipsychotics (24.2% vs. 9.2%, p = 0.003), and benzodiazepines
(16.7% vs. 6.6%, p = 0.024). Campaigns aiming to bring men with
psychological difficulties in contact with mental health services and to
lessen the stigma of mental illness, together with better training of
nonpsychiatrists into “suspecting” “male” depression, could be
particularly helpful for decreasing male suicides. More thoughtful
choice of psychiatric medication could possibly already prevent a number
of female suicides