Suicidality among patients with Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder: A Comparative Analysis

Abstract

Schizophrenia and Bipolar disorders are chronic mental health conditions that can result from genetic, social and psychological factors.  Both these disorders lead to functional impairment and poor treatment compliance leading to overlapping neuropsychological deficits which are linked to high suicidality including both suicidal ideation and attempt. Suicidal ideation comes before suicide and therefore for healthcare professionals, understanding suicidal ideation is important as it is a risk factor for suicide and both the patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder do not live independently, have unstable relationships with family and friends along with lower level of overall life satisfaction which can lead to functional impairment, suicidal ideation and behavior. The present study is descriptive and comparative. It includes 50 schizophrenic patients and 50 bipolar patients from private hospitals in Punjab, India. The study measured suicidal ideation with Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation having 21 items.  The results showed a high prevalence of suicidal ideation in both disorders with a significant difference of p-value= 0.01*. The study also indicated the significant association of gender, age range and educational level with suicidal ideation in bipolar patients as compared to schizophrenic patients suggesting that sociodemographic variables play an important role towards the risk of suicidal ideation.