Alcohol contributes to the process of suicide in various ways. Such is the conclusion reached by Dr. Sami Pirkola, Helsinki City Psychiatric Unit, after an investigation of all suicides in Finland between 1 April 1987 and 31 March 1988.

Alcohol addiction among suicide cases is mostly accompanied with all manner of other psychiatric disorders. The treatment of these patients was very haphazard, and the problems around alcohol were often not recognized. Alcohol contributes to the process of suicide in various ways. The role of alcohol abuse changes according to age and gender, ranging from an indicator or source of short-term or long-term psychosocial problems during the course of life to a serious dependency syndrome accompanied by other psychiatric disorders. Alcohol intoxication at the moment of the final deed probably also contributes to the suicide, either through increasing impulsiveness, or by increasing the chance of using a more deadly form of suicide.