Am J Psychiatry 1987; 144:563-567
Copyright © 1987 by American Psychiatric Association
Relationship between Russian roulette deaths and risk-taking behavior: a controlled study
DA Fishbain, JR Fletcher, TE Aldrich and JH Davis
A review of medical examiner records yielded data on 19 men and one woman
who died playing Russian roulette. The men differed significantly from 95
male suicide victims who died of gunshot wounds to the head on several
variables including age, race, ethnicity, religion, citizenship, marital
status, living situation, health, and the likelihood of the death being
witnessed. The Russian roulette victims were significantly less likely to
die in the bedroom, die in the morning, leave a suicide note, and be
depressed but were significantly more likely to have alcohol or drugs in
their body fluids and to have a previous history of drug and alcohol abuse.
