Attempted Suicide in Glasgow

Attempted suicide has been described as the prime emergency of general practice. Although this may represent a slightly exaggerated claim, the present writers have certainly found attempted suicide to be a frequent reason for the referral of patients to the psychiatric department of a general hospital. The expression “attempted suicide” is usually taken to refer to an unsuccessful attempt to kill oneself: yet such a description is often somewhat inappropriate to describe a dramatic episode of behaviour, during which an assault upon the self occurs as the result of a mood of despair or rage. Death may not be consciously sought and it is more satisfactory to define attempted suicide as a non-fatal act of self-damage.