Bipolar Disorder and Suicide: Facts and Figures

[Chupacabra 44]

When I first learned the facts and figures involving suicide rates with those afflicted with bipolar disorder, my response was my life is like a salmon trying to swim upstream surrounded by grizzlies. However, currently, each day that passes I look at it a bit differently and take more of a determined survivor perspective; I congratulate myself for beating some of these odds.

Below is data from two studies pertaining to bipolar disorder and suicide. Some figures had extraordinarily wide ranges, but these studies pulled data from other studies. Hence, some wide ranges.

Ratio of attempts to successful suicides:
General population. 35:1
Those with bipolar. 3:1

Risk factors for bipolar suicide:
Study one - 17 - 20x greater than the general population.
Study two - 10 - 30x greater than the general population.

Likelihood of suicide attempt(s) with bipolar 20% to 60%.

Suicide success rate with bipolar 4% to 19%.

Lifetime prevalence of suicide with bipolar 1.3% to 5%.

Here is more information from two research studies. These are the risk factors for those with bipolar disorder with respect to suicide.

* Male
* Living alone - divorced, unmarried/single, isolated
* Previous attempts highly linked
* Comorbid psychiatric disorders
* In patient care - frequency, length of stay, and recency is highly linked
* Involuntary commitment - recency is highly linked
* Expressed hopelessness - depressive states
* Family history of suicide
*. Age of onset of bipolar - for instance those who have onset at middle age fare better
*. Comorbid substance abuse - alcohol is highly linked
*. Comorbid anxiety disorder
*. Comorbid eating disorder - studied but some results aren't showing a strong link, if any
*. Comorbid personality disorder
*. Criminal conviction
*. Genetics
*. Sociodemographic factors
*. Rapid Cycling
*. Under age 35 or over age 75
* Occupational problems
*. Unemployment
*. Victim of abuse

For myself, I look at the list and think, "okay, I've got quite a few of these risk factors" . It helps me to understand why I have some of the conceptual struggles that I have. It helps me better accept why I have suicide ideation. It leads me to feel a little bit of success in that I've made it this far.

In many ways, I feel that the odds have been stacked against me, but I've played the cards I've been dealt as best I can and I'm still alive. This knowledge helps me feel empowered.

Again, here is another effort on my part to present some science to help better understand.

I hope, if you have bipolar disorder, you can look at the risk factors above and assess these in relation to yourself and congratulate yourself for making it this far!

Cheers

 

[Sensei]

Excellent research, sir! I've done much research myself (A Guide to Bipolar Disorder) and the studies I've looked at present similar figures. The only figure that makes me raise an eyebrow is the suicide rate. Almost all studies I've looked at suggest that the suicide rate is around 20 % or slightly lower, and I've never seen a study suggesting that it may be lower than 10 %. However, there are countless of studies about bipolar disorder and it's not easy to figure out what the majority opinion is.

 

[Sorrygoodbye]

This is very interesting. Congrats on having such such a optimistic perspective.
Is there anyway OP could provide links to sources? If not it's okay.

 

[Jojo81]

A poor person can be happy being poor. But falling from rich to being poor is very painful.. Sometimes I think of it like that.. Falling from hypomania to depression is such painful... But am somewhat content that the bad choices that I made was not me but my hypomania...

 

[Chupacabra 44]

I did this research a few nights ago on a sleepless hypomanic night. I'm on my couch in my poorly lite living room taking notes on this stuff. Part of me asked myself am I going to write down my sources, and thought there might not be interest so I didn't bother. Part of me asked am I even going to post this on the forum, for various reasons, etc.

But through the clearing my Google search history to recall my search term just now, I found the two primary studies from Pubmed. There could have been a third study or I could have pulled something else from an ancillary article, but I don't think so. But, I'm not positive.

My search term was "factors in bipolar suicide".

Suicide Risk in Bipolar Disorder: A Brief Review

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 ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Risk factors for suicide in bipolar disorder: a cohort study of 12 850 patients

Bipolar disorder carries a high risk of suicide. Identification of risk factors is important. The aim of this study was to study risk factors for suicide in a large cohort of men and women with bipolar disorder.A prospective cohort study using clinical ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[RedFoxSwims]

I'm bipolar 1 and wow this is so accurate. I learned some things I didn't know about too. 10/10 post.

 

[WornOutLife]

Amazing thread. Thanks so much for sharing.
I'm extremely bipolar these days but I do my best to avoid CTB thoughts and keep on living because I can't leave my dad alone.
I think that understanding bipolar disorder is healthy for our lives (and brains!)

 

[netrezven]

From my own experience - it is very dangerous. Mental disorders are extremely underrated compared to most physical health problems. The problem comes from the fact, that in order for the people to understand this, they have to sadly have it.