Citation

Sharma S, Kherada S, Gocher S, Goya D. Prim. Care Companion CNS Disord. 2019; 21(1): e02313.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry, RNT Medical College, Udaipur, Raj, India.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Physicians Postgraduate Press)

DOI

10.4088/PCC.18l02313

PMID

30753759

Abstract

To the Editor: Suicide stands in the top 3 causes of death among youth worldwide, and attempts are 20–40 times higher than completed suicide.1,2 The objective of this study was to find out whether those who attempted suicide and recovered perceived if their suicide attempt could have been prevented. Aims of the study were to know the degree of intent of the attempt, warning signs, and the risk factors.



Method. The study included 69 patients who had attempted suicide and were referred to the psychiatry department from other departments of Government Medical College, Udaipur, India. After obtaining patient consent, clinician-structured proforma was used to record risk factors and warning signs for attempt. Beck’s Scale for Suicide Ideation3 was used to assess the level of intent by understanding the severity of the attempt. SPSS version 19 (IBM Corp, Armonk, NY) was used for statistical analysis.

Results. Of the study participants, 57% (n = 39) of attempters were females and 39% (n = 27) were between 21 and 30 years of age, 30% (n = 21) were between 10 and 20 years of age, and 23% (n = 16) were > 40 years of age. There were 57% (n = 39) from a rural area, and 83% (n = 57) were from nuclear families.

For the 62 patients who provided more detailed information, 48% (n = 30) expressed medium intent, 24% (n = 15) expressed high intent, and 27% (n = 17) expressed low intent. Most had no premeditation (61% [n = 38]), ie, their attempt was an impulsive act, and 29% (n = 18) contemplated suicide for > 3 hours prior to the attempt. The primary purpose of the attempt for 48% (n = 30) was to escape or surcease or solve their problems; 37% (n = 23) wanted to manipulate or get attention or revenge through the attempt. After the attempt, 74%, (n = 46) felt sorry or were ashamed in reaction to their attempt, and 8% (n = 5) had regrets in the failure of attempt.

Intent was high in 53% (n = 33) in the presence of stressful events ...

Language: en