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Suicide in Widowed Persons

A Psychological Autopsy Comparison of Recently and Remotely Bereaved Older Subjects

Received September 17, 1997; revised February 9, 1998; accepted March 17, 1998. From the University of Rochester Departments of Psychiatry and Biostatistics, Rochester, NY. Address correspondence to Dr. Duberstein, University of Rochester Medical Center, 300 Crittenden Blvd., Rochester, NY 14642.

Using the psychological autopsy method, the authors sought to determine whether widowed people who commit suicide more than 4 years after their spouse's death (n=21) can be clinically distinguished from those who commit suicide after a shorter period of widowhood (n=14). The latter had a higher rate of psychiatric treatment (P=0.018), early loss/separation (P=0.03), and a nonsignificantly higher rate of lifetime substance abuse (P=0.07). Spousal bereavement increases the likelihood of physician visits, so the recently widowed represent a population for whom interventions may be readily implemented. Clinicians should monitor suicide risk in their recently widowed patients, especially those with psychiatric, substance abuse, and/or early loss/separation histories.

Key Words: suicide • bereavement • geriatric depression

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