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Depression, Hopelessness and Suicide in Chronic Schizophrenia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Robert E. Drake  and
Paul G. Cotton
Robert E. Drake*
Affiliation:
Community Mental Health Services, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
Paul G. Cotton
Affiliation:
Harvard Medical School, Medical Director, Pembroke Hospital, Pembroke, Massachusetts, USA
*
∗Correspondence
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Abstract

Hospital records for 104 schizophrenic patients, 15 of whom subsequently committed suicide, were rated blindly for individual depressive symptoms comprising DSM III major depressive episode, and for hopelessness. Our results indicate that a large proportion of schizophrenic patients experienced major depressive episodes, and that these can be reliably identified. Presuicidal schizophrenics also experienced depressed mood, but only a minority developed the full syndrome; they typically exhibited the psychological, but not somatic symptoms. The relationship between depression and suicide disappears when hopelessness is taken into account.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 148 , Issue 5 , May 1986 , pp. 554 - 559
Copyright
Copyright © 1986 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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