Attempted Drug Suicide in a Swedish City

A study has been made of the number of attempted suicides with drugs and toxic gases seen in a medical department of a general hospital during 1968‐70. The material consisted of 2002 patients over 15 years of age who made 2663 suicidal attempts. The greatest numbers occurred in younger age groups and there was a slight predominance of women. About 20% of the men and 17% of the women made more than one attempt during the period. Barbiturates and benzo‐diazepines were the most frequent drugs used. During 1969‐70 there was a sharp increase of drugs such as methaqualone and dextropropoxyphene. The mortality rate for patients alive at admission was low, 0.4%. The investigation also included a maximum 5‐year follow‐up, which showed that 4% of the patients who, after attempting suicide by intake of drugs in 1968‐70, later made another and successful suicidal attempt. There was often no correlation between the seriousness of the latest attempt from a somatic point of view compared with the risk of later death through drug intake.