Relationship between Protective and Risk Factors for Suicide in Depressed Patients

Objective: The objectives of present study are to identify the various protective factors against suicide and their relationship with risk factors like degree of hopelessness, severity of depression and suicidal ideations. Methods: The study was conducted between 1st March 2002 and 15th August 2002. It included fifty admitted patients with Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HRDS) score greater than 17 having various degrees of suicidality. Hopelessness scale and Reasons for living inventory (RLI) were applied to all the patients. The data collected was labeled and analyzed with the help of statistical package for scientific studies (SPSS) version 8. Results: Study showed that Reasons for living as a whole as well as the subscales of reasons for living inventory i.e. responsi-bility towards family, hope of improvement and surviving and coping beliefs have significant inverse correlation with score on Hopelessness Scale and suicidal ideations. The score on subscale religious beliefs had significant correlation only with score on hopelessness. Married individuals differed from single individuals in scoring on total reasons for living to a significant extent. The patients with past psychiatric history had significantly greater fear of suicide as compared to those without such history. The three different social groups did not differ to a significant extent in scoring on reasons for living as a whole. Conclusion: The reasons for living as a whole and some of the subscales of Reasons for Living Inventory have significant inverse relationship with suicidal risk factors showing the modulatory effect of these reasons on suicidal risk. Moreover, these reasons are not equally distributed among some of the Sociodemographic and clinical groups. (JPMA 53:275;2003)