The sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of 62 patients, who were consecutively admitted to medical or surgical departments in a general hospital in Barcelona, as a result of attempting suicide by jumping from buildings were investigated. All patients met DSM III criteria for at least one psychiatric diagnosis. The most frequent diagnosis was schizophrenia (40%), followed by depression (24%). The attempts made by depressed patients tended to be more lethal. Most of the schizophrenics presented active psychotic symptoms at the time of attempting suicide.
