Suicidal behaviour is an important and frequent phenomenon not only in affective disorders, but also in schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders (Angst and Clayton, 1986; Marneros et al., 1991b; Gupta et al., 1998; Tsuang et al., 1999). Completed suicide is the most disastrous outcome of psychiatric disorders. While a good deal of research has been conducted on suicidal behaviour in affective disorders and schizophrenia (Tsuang et al., 1999; Hawton and Van Heeringen, 2000), suicidality in ATPD has not yet been investigated. The HASBAP is the first study addressing the issue of suicidality in ATPD.

In this chapter, the findings of the HASBAP on suicidal behaviour in ATPD and the clinical control groups are reported. Data on suicidal behaviour were collected during the sociobiographical interview and supplemented by the analysis of hospital records. For every patient who died during the follow-up period, information was collected from sources to verify the cause and the circumstances of death.

In the acute episode, the frequency of suicidal symptoms (including suicidal ideation and suicide attempts) was highest in ATPD patients (26.2%), followed by BSAD (23.8%) and PS patients (11.9%). Frequency of suicidal ideation differed non-significantly between diagnostic groups. Suicide attempts during the acute episode were, in the sample of the HASBAP, only observed in ATPD and BSAD (Table 9.1). The difference between ATPD and PS was highly significant.