Although the rate for suicide in old age is high, the rate for attempted (unsuccessful) suicide is low. Among the elderly, suicide-attempt groups have more physical disorders, more psychoses, and more psychopathologic findings, and are under-represented demographically. Fifty percent of the elderly suicide attempters have organic brain syndrome (OBS), compared to only 5-10 percent of the "normal" population over age 60. Among what might be expected to be a high-risk suicide population, OBS apparently interferes with the success of suicide attempts by impairing coordination, planning, determination, and awareness of reality.

The MMPI profiles of forty suicidal and forty non-suicidal male and female depressed patients, matched for age, were compared. Significant differences between MMPI scale T scores which showed some sex specificity were found between the suicidal and non-suicidal depressives. These results replicate previous findings. However neither individual scale T scores, derived discriminant functions, nor actuarial or cluster analysis-derived MMPI profiles could completely discriminate between suicidal and non-suicidal depressed inpatients of either sex. The relevance and implications of these findings to the ascertainment of suicidal risk are discussed.

Survivors of suicide (184) were classified clinically into serious, ambivalent, and gesture pre-and post-suicidal states. It was noted that the MMPI profile interpretation concurs with this classification and shows the Masculinity-Femininity trend. The profile interpretation makes use of the individual interscale relationships and actuarial profiles. The relationship with the psychiatric clinical diagnostic category is also necessary. The MasculinityFemininity Scale is essential in MMPI profile interpretation and is significant in statistical terms in differentiating the serious (high risk) attempters from the other groups. The Masculinity-Femininity Scale in conjunction with intrapsychic factor indicators (Scales 2, 4, G. 7. 8 ) contributes to the profile interpretation to such an extent that one can significantly differentiate suicidal from non-suicidal depressives, schizophrenics, and personality disorders. In qualitative terms, the Masculinity-Femininity Scale suggests that the serious suicide attcmpters are psychosexually maladjusted, lack self-confidence, and healthy selfesteem. This is due to a disturbance in their developmental characterological s:ructure.

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