• Among 243 patients with a family history of suicide, almost half (118 [48.6%]) had attempted suicide, more than half (137 [56.4%]) had a depressive disorder, and more than a third (84 [34.6%]) had recurrent affective disorder. These 243 patients with a family history of suicide were compared with 5,602 patients with no family history of suicide. A family history of suicide was found to significantly increase the risk for an attempt at suicide in patients with a wide variety of diagnoses: schizophrenia, unipolar and bipolar affective disorders, depressive neurosis, and personality disorders.