DIFFERENCES BETWEEN URBAN AND RURAL SUICIDES

As part of a nation-wide psychological autopsy we examined the differe nces in DSM-III-R mental disorders, recent life events and other chara cteristics between urban (n=143) and rural (n=85) completed suicides i n a random sample of 229 cases from the National Suicide Prevention Pr oject in Finland for the period 1987-1988. Psychoactive substance use disorders (48% vs. 34%), cluster B personality disorders (24% vs. 9%) and psychiatric comorbidity (66% vs. 42%) were found more commonly amo ng urban than rural suicides. Urban suicides were also more often repo rted to be preceded by a recent separation (25% vs. 8%), whereas rural suicide victims tended to have lacked a close companion of the opposi te sex (36% vs. 18%) and to have had physical disorders (56% vs. 40%). Overall, urban and rural suicides may vary with regard to the prevale nce of some mental disorders, their comorbidity, and physical disorder s, as well as the preceding life situation. This variation may also im ply the need for differences in strategies for suicide prevention in e ach setting.