Suicide risk in bipolar disorder: A brief review

Abstract

Bipolar disorders (BDs) are prevalent mental health illnesses that affect about 1–5% of the total population, have a chronic course and are associated with a markedly elevated premature mortality. One of the contributors for the decreased life expectancy in BD is suicide. Accordingly, the rate of suicide among BD patients is approximately 10–30 times higher than the corresponding rate in the general population. Extant research found that up to 20% of (mostly untreated) BD subjects end their life by suicide, and 20–60% of them attempt suicide at least one in their lifetime. In our paper we briefly recapitulate the current knowledge on the epidemiological aspects of suicide in BD as well as factors associated with suicidal risk in BD. Furthermore, we also discuss concisely the possible means of suicide prevention in BD.