A Comparative Study between Suicide Ideation and Suicide Attempt and Cloninger's Personality Dimensions of Temperament and Character in Patients with Depression

Suicidal ideation and attempt are common in major depressive disorder and other psychiatric diagnosis. It is indubitable that psychiatric disorders are linked to suicide, but in what manner remains to be explained. A patient with major depression has increase risk for suicide compared with an individual without depression. Since most patients with depression do not show suicidal behavior, it has been argued that other factors than those eliciting depressive mood must operate when a person becomes suicidal. In this study, we included 30 suicide attempters with depression and 30 suicidal ideators with depression but without prior history of suicidal attempt and they were assessed using Temperament and Character Inventory. This was a hospital based cross sectional study. The analysis included descriptive statistics and Mann Whitney U test. Results show that higher Novelty Seeking, Reward Dependence and Self-Transcendence in Suicide Attempters than the Suicide Ideators. However, Suicidal Ideators were found to have higher Harm Avoidance and Self-Directedness.