Psychiatric Morbidities Amongsts’ Victims of Suicide in Medico-legal Autopsies

Suicide is derived from the latin word for ‘self-murder’. It is a fatal act that represents the persons’ wish to die. Suicide is difficult to predict but numerous clues can be observed. The most important concept regarding suicide is that it is almost always the result of a mental illness. Almost 95% of all persons who commit suicide have a diagnosed mental disorder. Inspite of the development of suicide prevention programmes, the overall rate of suicide has not changed over the past several decades. In the current study an attempt was made to understand the associated mental illness amongst the victims of suicide brought for autopsy.