Objective To explore the characteristics of both clinical symptoms and thyroid function between depressive patients with and without attempted suicide behavior. Methods Depressive patients were divided into two groups. The first group was composed of patients with attempted suicide behavior (n = 56) and the second group without attempted suicide behavior ( n = 85 ). Thyroid function (FT3, FT4 )were determined by radioimmunoassay method. The patients were evaluated by symptom checklist 90 (SCL90). Results The score of depressive factor in the group with attempted suicide [(2. 90 ± 1. 01 ) score]was higher than that of the group without attempted suicide [(2.51±0.77) score] ( ( t =2. 127, P =0. 036). The serum level of FT3 in the group with attempted suicide [(3.92 ±0. 52) pmol/L] was lower than that of the group without attempted suicide[(4.18 ±0.71) pmol/L] ( t =-2.219, P =0.028).Conclusions There were certain characteristics on clinical symptoms of depressive patients with attempted suicide. The low serum levels of FT3 might play an important role in the risk of suicide in depressive patients.