Suicide attempts and drugs: Contradiction between method and intent

Abstract

A study of 258 suicide attempters presenting themselves at Yale-New Haven Hospital Emergency Room during a six-month period revealed that the majority of attempts were by pill ingestion. A comparison made with attempt methods revealed that attempts by pill overdose (N= 205) were the most impulsive, had the least intent to kill, and were motivated towards obtaining attention from significant others. Attempts by violent methods (N=53), such as wrist-cutting, shooting or hanging, were more planned, had higher intent to kill, and these attempters expressed more self-directed hostility. While the patients taking overdoses had the least intent to kill themselves, the medical effects of their attempts were most serious. The treatment disposition indicated that the pill ingestors more often had medical consequences of the attempt and less often were considered serious psychiatric problems, while the opposite was true of the attempters using other methods. Education about the potential hazards of the medications and the effects of combining medications is seriously needed. © 1975 Springer-Verlag.