Review article

Pharmacotherapy of Suicidality in Schizophrenic Patients

Vera Folnegović
Neven Henigsberg

Abstract

Suicidality is a very important and frequent
event in schizophrenic patients, occurring in up to
50% of patients during lifetime. Suicides in schizophrenic
patients, although sharing some characteristics with suicides
in general population, have also specific features for
this particular diagnostic group. Risk factors for suicide in
schizophrenic patients are primarily clinical (suspiciousness,
persecutory delusions, disorganization, imperative
hallucinations, depression), but also consequent untoward
socio-economic, marital, work, emotional, degrading, stigmatizing
and similar factors. It is necessary to pay attention
to possible occurrence of adverse side effects, both in their
direct action upon suicidality and in possible action in
decreasing compliance, thus lessening the efficacy of a prescribed
drug. In this regard, it is necessary to perform adequate
and individually specific type of therapy. That primarily
means implementation of adequate psychopharmacotherapy
in the sense of reducing the mentioned symptoms. Therapy
should be commenced as early as possible and in corresponding
dose, in order to avoid development of adverse
secondary factors (loss of emotional and social relationships,
loss of workplace, lowering on social scale, etc).In
preventing these secondary events adequate pharmacotherapy
and numerous psychosocial methods and actions are
important as well.

Keywords

suicidality; psychopharmacotherapy; schizophrenia; depression; parasuicide; antipsychotics

Hrčak ID:

19968

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/19968

Publication date:

25.9.2002.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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