Huntington disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative condition characterized by cognitive impairments, motor abnormalities, and psychiatric disturbance. An increased risk for suicide has been documented. The majority of HD research has focused on cognitive and motor features of HD; the implications of psychiatric manifestations have received less consideration. Recent studies have sought to identify the stages of HD in which patients are at increased risk to experience suicidal ideation, though no study has examined possible risk factors for suicidality. The current study examines the presence of psychiatric comorbidity and its involvement in suicidal ideation. Suicidal ideation was examined in 1,941 HD patients enrolled in the Huntington Study Group. Of those, 19% (N = 369) reported suicidal ideation. Logistic regression analyses indicated that depression/anxiety and aggression/irritability are significant predictors of suicidal ideation (p < 0.01). In a subsample with the greatest suicidal ideation, alcohol and drug abuse were also predictive. Findings suggest that suicide in HD may be more distinct as compared to suicide in the general population. It is recommended that all individuals with HD (specifically those with features of depression, aggression, substance abuse) have routine suicide assessment; further research is needed to understand the high rate of suicide in HD.

Few studies have been published on the attitudes of people with physical disabilities toward genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis. Articles in the lay press and social science literature on this topic, mainly written by disability rights activists and advocates, imply opposition to prenatal diagnosis and the field of clinical genetics by the physically disabled population. In this study, 15 adults with physical disabilities were interviewed regarding their attitudes toward genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis. Genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis were generally viewed favorably by this sample of the disability community. Only a small percentage of the sample perceived genetics to be eugenic. Implications for genetic counseling and future research are discussed.