Of 49 newly hospitalized patients who met Research Diagnostic Criteria
for primary unipolar depression and were given the dexamethasone
suppression test (DST), significantly more patients admitted for suicide
attempts than nonsuicidal patients had abnormal DSTs. All five patients who
made subsequent suicide attempts (one completed) within 6 months after
admission had had abnormal DSTs. These findings suggest that the tendency
of endogenously depressed patients to attempt suicide is exacerbated by an
underlying neurobiological disorder reflected by limbic-hypothalamic
dysregulation and that depressed suicidal patients with abnormal DSTs
represent a high-risk group for recurrence of suicidal behavior.Abstract Teaser