Psychotropic drug-related suicides.

This study examined the 92 suicides investigated by the Medical Examiner's Office in Rhode Island between 1975 and 1982, in which either tranquilizers or antidepressant drugs were present in the body fluids or tissues of the deceased. We found that traumatic suicides were more prevalent among the tranquilizer victims and that tranquilizers were combined more often with alcohol and other drugs. While the antidepressants were obtained by prescription more often than the tranquilizers, the latter were prescribed by a wider variety of doctors. More antidepressant than tranquilizer suicide victims had a history of psychiatric hospitalization and had previously attempted suicide or spoken of it prior to their death. Our findings also seem to indicate that the antidepressant victims took more time and effort in both contemplating and planning their suicides.