Conduites suicidaires et corticothérapie : à propos d'un cas

This clinical case points out that corticosteroids are likely to precipitate suicidal behavior in a patient with a premorbid undiagnosed depressive disorder. Early detection of psychiatric disorders before starting corticotherapy seems to be essential. However, management strategies are not explicit enough in the literature to be recommended. Treatment discontinuation should not be done systematically, but tapering should be considered in combination with an antidepressant drug. A recent longitudinal study by Fardet et al. on oral corticotherapy suggests a positive correlation between steroids treatment and suicidal behavior. These results may support our clinical observation. In addition, the neurobiologic correlates may give credit to the underlying pathophysiology proposed as a potential explanation to the patient's sudden suicidal behavior after corticotherapy. Physicians and patients must be aware of possible risks of increased suicidality when undergoing corticosteroid treatment in order to prevent fatal outcomes for the patient.