According to a recent study, the suicide rate for people with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) is 170 times higher than the general population.
The study was published in the journal Schizophrenia Research.
The study of 20-year population data, which is believed to be the largest of its kind ever done, examined statistics on over 75,000 patients who received the first diagnosis of SSD.
On average, each patient was followed for almost ten years.
The research found several key factors that were predictors of suicide, including the first five years of being diagnosed with SSD, evidence of mood disorder or hospitalisation prior to diagnosis, and the diagnoses of SSD at later age.
"In the past clinicians have focused on treating the psychosis itself when it first appears," said senior author Dr Paul Kurdyak, Director, Health Outcomes and Performance Evaluation, CAMH Institute for Mental Health Policy Research and Clinician Scientist at ICES.