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Bipolar Disorder May Be Indicator of Suicidal Behavior

November 5, 2010 - A recent study conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and The University of Michigan may have very well have come up with information that can help prevent more soldiers and veterans from taking their own lives. The study found veterans suffering from mental illnesses are more likely to commit suicide.

While that may seem like a fairly obvious conclusion, the study narrowed down a specific disorders and how they affect veterans by gender. For males, the study found bipolar disorder to present the greatest risk. For females, that risk came from substance abuse disorders. Bipolar disorder was the least frequently diagnosed condition, but the one most strongly tied to suicide among veterans.

Researchers examined the medical records of over 3,000,000 veterans who were alive in 2000 and received care of any kind at any VA facility in 1999. Veterans fitting those parameters were then monitored for 7 years.

Of the veterans tracked in the study, 7,684 committed suicide. The study looked at specific psychiatric disorders, which had been linked to causing higher probabilities of suicides. The veterans who committed suicide had been diagnosed with at least one of the following mental health issues:

• Depression;
• Schizophrenia;
• Bipolar disorder;
• Substance abuse disorders;
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); and
• Other anxiety disorders.

Because bipolar disorder was linked to suicides more than any other mental health condition, researchers concluded intervening into the lives of those veterans suffering from bipolar disorder would prevent the most suicides.