Abstract
Parasuicide is common; its treatment depends on its prevention, which in turn depends on accurate identification of those at risk. When the rates of consultation and the number of prescriptions issued each year for patients who had survived parasuicide were compared with those for controls matched for age and sex the patients who had survived parasuicide were found to have attended much more frequently; their pattern of attendance had accelerated up to the time of the attempt and then decelerated. This variation was not seen in the control group. The number of prescriptions received per visit was static in both groups at all times. General practitioners should regard more frequent attendance by patients who already attend often as indicating that those patients are at risk of parasuicide.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Adam K. S., Bouckoms A., Scarr G. Attempted suicide in Christchurch: a controlled study. Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 1980 Dec;14(4):305–314. doi: 10.3109/00048678009159396. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Burke A. W. Living with attempted suicide. Postgrad Med J. 1982 Oct;58(684):630–635. doi: 10.1136/pgmj.58.684.630. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Holding T. A., Barraclough B. M. Psychiatric morbidity in a sample of a London coroner's open verdicts. Br J Psychiatry. 1975 Aug;127:133–143. doi: 10.1192/bjp.127.2.133. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hughes G. W. Rural versus urban parasuicide--referral and management. J R Coll Gen Pract. 1983 Oct;33(255):637–640. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kennedy P., Kreitman N., Ovenstone I. M. The prevalence of suicide and parasuicide ('attempted suicide') in Edinburgh. Br J Psychiatry. 1974 Jan;124(578):36–41. doi: 10.1192/bjp.124.1.36. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kessel N. Self-poisoning. II. Br Med J. 1965 Dec 4;2(5474):1336–1340. doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.5474.1336. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kreitman N., Philip A. E., Greer S., Bagley C. R. Parasuicide. Br J Psychiatry. 1969 Jun;115(523):746–747. doi: 10.1192/bjp.115.523.746-a. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Pallis D. J., Gibbons J. S., Pierce D. W. Estimating suicide risk among attempted suicides. II. Efficiency of predictive scales after the attempt. Br J Psychiatry. 1984 Feb;144:139–148. doi: 10.1192/bjp.144.2.139. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Turner R. J., Morgan H. G. Patterns of health care in non-fatal deliberate self-harm. Psychol Med. 1979 Aug;9(3):487–492. doi: 10.1017/s0033291700032037. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Weissman M. M. The epidemiology of suicide attempts, 1960 to 1971. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1974 Jun;30(6):737–746. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.1974.01760120003001. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]