| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
| Psychiatric Bulletin | Advances in Psychiatric Treatment | All RCPsych Journals |
|
|
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
1 Consultant Psychiatrist, Mapperley Hospital, Nottingham NG3 6AA
2 MRC Unit for Epidemiological Studies in Psychiatry, University Department of Psychiatry, Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Morningside Park, Edinburgh EH10 5HF
A sample of 106 suicides diagnosed in accordance with defined criteria were dichotomized into 50 (the P group) who had a history of parasuicide ('attempted suicide') and 56 who had not (the NP group).
The P group was composed of sociopaths, drug addicts and alcoholics, known to psychiatrists but largely refractory to psychiatric treatment, with long histories of instability, and living in situations of chronic personal and social disorganization; debt and a criminal record were not uncommon. They committed suicide by using drugs, intimated their intent beforehand, and carried out the act while others were in the vicinity.
The NP group comprised relatively more stable personalities with shorter periods of instability, whose suicide resulted from failure to adapt to an acute stress situation, particularly loss of a loved person. They committed the act while alone, used lethal methods of coal gas poisoning and self-injury, and did not intimate their intention beforehand.
It is suggested there are two syndromes of suicide, characterizing different persons.
The implications for preventive action and for epidemiological studies are briefly reviewed.
Submitted on April 24, 1973
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  K. A. Comtois A Review of Interventions to Reduce the Prevalence of Parasuicide Psychiatr Serv, September 1, 2002; 53(9): 1138 - 1144. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 J. B. Luoma, C. E. Martin, and J. L. Pearson Contact With Mental Health and Primary Care Providers Before Suicide: A Review of the Evidence Am J Psychiatry, June 1, 2002; 159(6): 909 - 916. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
S. S. Welch A Review of the Literature on the Epidemiology of Parasuicide in the General Population Psychiatr Serv, March 1, 2001; 52(3): 368 - 375. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 K. Hawton, E. Arensman, E. Townsend, S. Bremner, E. Feldman, R. Goldney, D. Gunnell, P. Hazell, K. van Heeringen, A. House, et al. Deliberate self harm: systematic review of efficacy of psychosocial and pharmacological treatments in preventing repetition BMJ, August 15, 1998; 317(7156): 441 - 447. [Abstract] [Full Text]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 P. Congdon Suicide and Parasuicide in London: A Small-area Study Urban Stud, February 1, 1996; 33(1): 137 - 158. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
D. J Gunnell, T. J Peters, R. M Kammerling, and J. Brooks Relation between parasuicide, suicide, psychiatric admissions, and socioeconomic deprivation BMJ, July 22, 1995; 311(6999): 226 - 230. [Abstract] [Full Text]
|
|
|
|
|
|
D Gunnell and S Frankel Prevention of suicide: aspirations and evidence BMJ, May 7, 1994; 308(6938): 1227 - 1233. [Full Text]
|
|
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
| Psychiatric Bulletin | Advances in Psychiatric Treatment | All RCPsych Journals |
