Factors associated with completed suicide in borderline personality disorder

Abstract

Fifteen patients with a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder (BPD) who had committed suicide while under inpatient care or within a month after discharge were compared with a group of 13 inpatients with a diagnosis of BPD who did not kill themselves. Suicides occurred in all ages from 20 to 49 years. Age, sex, and age when first in contact with psychiatry did not differ between groups. DIB profiles differed only with respect to slightly higher scores on the affect section among patients who committed suicide. Axis I affective disorders were equally frequent. The patients who committed suicide had been more often hospitalized and they had made more suicide attempts in their lifetime. Male patients who killed themselves showed a more extensive suicidal behavior at admission than did their matched control subjects. Earlier suicide attempts during inpatient treatment were only identified among the patients who committed suicide. An imminent mandatory discharge preceded the inpatient suicides in five of 11 cases.