The Risk of Suicide for Bipolar Patients

Bipolar disorder is notoriously difficult to diagnose and treat, and has a suicide rate of up to 20%. Studies suggest that half of people living with bipolar disorder have attempted to kill themselves.

Not all people with bipolar disorder have an equal suicide risk. Investigators who examined records from more than 32,000 members of two large prepaid health plans who had been treated for bipolar disorder determined that men with bipolar made fewer suicide attempts than women but were more likely than women to die when they did attempt suicide.

People who had high anxiety levels made more suicide attempts than other people with bipolar disorder and also were more likely to succeed in their attempts to kill themselves.