Self-poisoning. I.

Abstract

chester 13. The growth of pharmaceutical products has brought about the change. In every century before our own, poisons and drugs were dissimilar. Poisons were substances which should not be taken at all, the province not of physicians but of wizards. Their properties verged upon the magical. They were, indeed, " unctions bought of mountebanks." By the second half of the nineteenth century science had displaced sorcery, and poisons were purchased from the chemist, not the alchemist. But they still differed from drugs. Drugs, with few exceptions, though recognized to produce undesirable actions if taken in excess, were not considered lethal agents, were not used to kill. The growth of self-poisoning has come about in the train of a rapid rise in number of highly dangerous preparations employed therapeutically, together with a great contemporaneous increase in prescribing.

Drug Overdose in the Asir Region of Saudi Arabia

“…These figures are higher than those seen in Kuwait, 3 but less than in the United Kingdom (43% to 59%). 16 No deaths were seen in this series, and the small number of patients admitted in a coma and those who required ICU care and/or hemodialysis probably indicate that most of the attempts were not serious suicides, as is often seen in self-poisoning in young female patients. 17 It might also indicate that the classes of drugs used included, expectedly, very small instances of barbiturates, benzodiazepine or alcohol.…”

Attempted Suicide in Social Networks

“…Kessel (1965) has demonstrated considerable variation in the crude adult admission rate to the R.P.T.C. for the different electoral wards of Edinburgh.…”

“…Every patient presenting to the hospital with selfpoisoning or self-injury, no matter how seemingly trivial, is admitted for assessment, which includes psychiatric examination. A one-year admission cohort (mid 1962-mid 1963) has already been analysed by Kessel (1965) and , and these authors kindly put their data at our disposal for further use. Detailed records have been routinely maintained at the Centre since 1963, thus providing data for the subsequent years.…”

“…at the Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh, receives over 90% of all hospital-treated cases of attempted suicide in the city (Kessel, McCulloch, Hendry, Leslie, Wallace, and Webster, 1964). Every patient presenting to the hospital with selfpoisoning or self-injury, no matter how seemingly trivial, is admitted for assessment, which includes psychiatric examination.…”

Deliberate Self-Poisoning With Prescribed Drugs Is Not Related to Medical Severity of Acts

“…2,3 This evaluation was based partly on clinical judgment, patients' medical records, and information from the patients and partly on laboratory findings (ie, blood samples) when necessary, and it included the amount of drug ingested as well as any alcohol consumed in the episode, age, and physical health (including any chronic physical conditions).…”