Familial suicide.

Seven completed suicides in a family of lower socioeconomic status and suburban domicile in Pondicherry are reported. The presence of bipolar affective disorder in the family members and the absence of exogenous factors are illustrated by utilising both family history method and family study method. The details collected formed the basis for the terminology 'familial suicide'. The management of the index case, one of the only three surviving male members of the family, who presented with suicidal ruminations and depressive features, is described.