[Pharmacological suicide prevention under special consideration of lithium salts].

OBJECTIVE This minireview summarizes the existing evidence from large, international observational studies and RCTs on the suicide preventive effects of lithium as compared to other mood stabilizers and antidepressants. METHODS Unsystematic literature review. RESULTS There is increasing and robust evidence from a relatively large number of studies and metaanalyses that lithium long-term treatment reduces the suicide risk and overall mortality in patients with all kinds of depressive disorders (unipolar, bipolar, schizoaffective). Comparable evidence does not exist with regard to other mood stabilizers including atypical neuroleptics, or antidepressants. CONCLUSIONS The existing evidence on the suicide preventive effect of lithium should be integrated in therapeutic guidelines and routine psychiatric care.