Parasuicide in Edinburgh—A Seven-Year Review 1968–74

Abstract

Parasuicide admissions to the Regional Poisoning Treatment Centre in Edinburgh are reviewed over the seven year period 1968-74. Special emphasis is given to trends in parasuicide rates for Edinburgh City, but social and clinical data are also described. Though the mean annual increase for admissions is 10-6 per cent, recent years have shown a fall in the rates for men and a levelling off for women. There have been increases in the rates for the young, for men in social classes 4 and 5 and for divorced women, and in poisonings with psychotropic drugs and alcohol consumption among women. At the same time it is important to note variables which have not changed: the relative risks by age and sex, repetition rates, the diagnostic picture, poisoning with non-prescribed drugs, and the rank order of municipal ward rates: and variables which have diminished: the rates for divorced men, overcrowding, domestic gas and barbiturate poisoning, and drug misuse. A comprehensive explanation of parasuicide in the contemporary scene would have to explain both the consistencies and the changing trends. The answer to the central question of why parasuicide is changing remains elusive.

Do weather, day of the week, and address affect the rate of attempted suicide in Hong Kong?

“…On the other hand, 22.2% of our at~tempters used fatal methods like coal gas poisoning, ingestion of poisons, jumping from height, hanging, drowning, head banging, incineration, or injecting air. In contrast, less than 5% of attempters in western countries used such fatal methods (Morgan et al t975b;Holding et al 1977). Also, 9.4% of our attempters were diagnosed to have schizophrenia or paranoid disorder but less than 4% of those in western countries are given such diagnoses (Newson-Smith and Hirsch 1979;Urwin and Gibbons 1979).…”

“…These differences imply that more of the Hong Kong groups were failed suicides. The most striking contrast is that about half of the western attempters (Holding et al 1977) , but only 7.2% of the Hong Kong attempters, had consumed alcohol shortly before the act. Besides implying that most of the attempts in Hong Kong were not impulsive acts after alcohol, this contrast may also reflect the lower prevalence of alcohol consumption in Hong Kong (MacQuarrie 1983).…”

“…This is very different from western studies, which find that the commonest method is ingestion of psychotropic drugs (Morgan etal. 1975b;Holding et al 1977). This reflects the fact that taking psychotropic drugs is still relatively uncommon in Hong Kong (Lo 1986), unlike western countries where 1 in 5 to 10 of the adults are found to take tranquillizers or hypnotics at some time during the course of each year (Lader 1981).…”

“…The sample consisted of all people of any age who presented with attempted suicide (as defined by Kreitman 1977) to Prince of Wales Hospital, whether admitted or not, between 1st January, 1986 and 31st December, 1986. Prince of Wales Hospital is the only acute general hospital in the whole Eastern New Territories of Hong Kong, with a population of 641,000 in 1986 (Census and Statistics Department 1986).…”

Deliberate self-poisoning in an Irish county hospital

“…22 The majority presented late at night and in the early hours of the morning. Deliberate selfharm is now a major health issue throughout Europe, particularly the UK, 23 Following a decline in rates during the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Oxford study noted rates rising again in the late 19805.24 From 1985 to 1996, there was a 5% increase per annum in the number of overdoses in the UK, mostly among young males," correlating with an increase in completed suicide 2 " 9 especially amongst young men. 8 " 6 When suicide is attempted 90% choose overdose, 25 typically with more than one drug.…”