Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-ph5wq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-27T20:58:16.188Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Depression and Attempted Suicide: A Study of 91 Cases Seen in a Casualty Department

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

John Birtchnell
Affiliation:
M.R.C. Clinical Psychiatry Research Unit, Graylingwell Hospital, Chichester, Sussex
José Alarcon
Affiliation:
The Ross Clinic, Aberdeen

Extract

In recent years there has been a steady and alarming increase in the prevalence of attempted suicide (Aitken, Buglass and Kreitman, 1969). Though all cases of attempted suicide may be regarded as a distress signal, only a proportion of such cases are seriously mentally ill. The problem of their assessment and organization of appropriate treatment is becoming an increasing burden on the psychiatric services. The Hill Report (1968) recommended that all cases should be admitted to special poisoning treatment centres which have continuous psychiatric cover. In towns where there are medical schools this may be a feasible proposition, and such a centre has been in operation in Edinburgh for a number of years (Matthew, Proudfoot, Brown and Aitken, 1969). In the Aberdeen region all cases are treated in the city casualty department and are assessed by the staff of the Professorial Psychiatric Unit, which is less than a mile away. Seven day cover is provided by a duty rota, each doctor being on call for a period of twenty-four hours. In a non-university town with less staff available such an efficient service may not be possible, and Crammer (1969) has suggested that a questionary administered by the house officer in the casualty department might serve as a satisfactory screening procedure.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1971 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aitken, R. C. B., Buglass, D., and Kreitman, N. (1969). ‘The changing pattern of attempted suicide in Edinburgh, 1962–67.’ Brit. J. prev. soc. Med., 23, 111–5.Google ScholarPubMed
Central and Scottish Health Service Council (1968). Hospital Treatment of Acute Poisoning (The Hill Report). H.M.S.O. London.Google Scholar
Crammer, J. L. (1969). ‘Poisoning and psychiatrists.’ Brit. med.J., iii, 651.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harrington, J., and Cross, K. (1959). ‘Cases of attempted suicide admitted to a general hospital.’ Brit. med. J., ii, 1352–5.Google Scholar
Kessel, N. (1965). ‘Self-poisoning—Part I.’ Brit. med. J., ii, 1265–70.Google Scholar
Matthew, H., Proudfoot, A. T., Brown, S. S., and Aitken, R. C. B. (1969). ‘Acute poisoning: organization and workload of a treatment centre.’ Brit. med. J., iii, 489–93.Google Scholar
Sclare, A. B., and Hamilton, C. (1963). ‘Attempted suicide in Glasgow.’ Brit. J. Psychiat., 109, 609–15.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Whitlock, F., and Schapira, K. (1967). ‘Attempted suicide in Newcastle upon Tyne.’ Brit. J. Psychiat., 113, 423–34.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zinkin, S., and Birtchnell, J. (1968). ‘Unilateral electroconvulsive therapy: its effects on memory and its therapeutic efficacy.’ Brit. J. Psychiat., 114, 973–88.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zung, W. W. K. (1965). ‘A self-rating depression scale.’ Arch. gen. Psychiat., 12, 6370.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.