CONTENTS

About This Course

Table of Contents

1. The Nature and Scope of Suicide
2. Recognizing the Progressive Development of Suicide
3. Substance Abuse as a Major Contributor to Suicide
4. Suicide Across the Life Span
5. Special Populations and Suicide Risk
6. Prevention and Early Intervention for Suicide and Substance Abuse Problems

Supplements
References
Resources

Holding the Lifeline
A Guide to Suicide Prevention

Suicide Risk and Mental Illness

Researchers have found that just as some mental illnesses put individuals at risk of suicide so do they put them at greater risk of substance abuse. This mutually reinforcing situation merely increases the likelihood of suicidal behaviors. The mental illnesses that are commonly associated with an increased risk for substance abuse are depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and the other psychotic-spectrum disorders, and some personality disorders, particularly borderline personality disorder and anti-social personality disorder.

As research has demonstrated over the past few years, many of these mental illnesses are much more prevalent than recognized in the past. In fact, the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health has found that mental illnesses affect almost every American family. ref

Mood disorders, such as depression and bipolar disorder, rank as the fourth greatest cause of illness in the world, according to the World Health Organization (2001). The WHO predicts that mood disorders will move up to third place by the year 2020. ref