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Suicidal behaviour in huntington disease

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2021

R. Mota Freitas  and
M.T. Valadas
R. Mota Freitas*
Affiliation:
Departamento De Psiquiatria E Saúde Mental, Hospital do Espírito Santo de Évora, Évora, Portugal
M.T. Valadas
Affiliation:
Serviço De Psiquiatria, Unidade Local de Saúde do Baixo Alentejo, Beja, Portugal
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

Huntington Disease (HD) is a genetic, progressive neurodegenerative disorder. Its clinical features include motor dysfunction, cognitive impairments, and psychiatric symptoms. The association between HD and suicide is well documented, and the risk of suicide in HD is higher than in patients with other neurological diseases.

Objectives

We aim to review the literature regarding suicidal behaviour in HD.

Methods

We performed an updated review in the PubMed database using the terms “suicide”, “suicidal behaviour” and “Huntington Disease”. The included articles were selected by title and abstract.

Results

The most relevant risk factors associated with suicidality in HD are depression, anxiety, and aggression, so the presence of psychiatric diagnoses should be closely monitored. No consistent results have been found regarding gender. Evidence for periods of elevated risk of suicidal behaviour in HD is mixed and the data on specific pharmacological interventions for alleviating suicidal ideation in HD is scarce.

Conclusions

Patients with HD are at a high risk for suicide. This risk is further increased when a comorbid psychiatric disorder is present. It is important for the practicing psychiatrist to be aware of this association to correctly manage patients with HD, thus helping prevent suicidal behaviour.

Keywords

Huntington DiseaseSuicide
Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 64 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 29th European Congress of Psychiatry , April 2021 , pp. S585
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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