Suicide after parasuicide

doi:10.1136/bmj.325.7373.1125/a

BMJ 2002;325:1125-1126 ( 16 November )

Editorials

Suicide after parasuicide

Evaluate previous parasuicide even if in the remote past

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Predicting suicide is a delicate matter, certainly difficult even in groups of patients at high risk. A paper in this issuefocuses on previous parasuicide as a predictor of suicide (p 1155)and shows that the risk persists without decline for two decades.¹This observation is relevant for the clinical assessment of riskof suicide and has implications for the treatment of parasuicideaswell.

In a large meta-analysis, a history of parasuicide or attempted suicide increased the risk of suicide to 40 times that ofthe general population.² An attempted suicide that was recognisedin health care thus implied a higher risk than having a mentaldisorder such as major depression, personality disorder, or dependenceon alcohol. The risk of suicide is generally most prominent duringthe first months after psychiatric care.³ The risk of repetitionand consequently of suicide is believed to be highest during thefirst one . . . [Full text of this article]

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Suicide rate 22 years after parasuicide: cohort study: Gary R Jenkins, Robert Hale, Maria Papanastassiou, Michael J Crawford, and Peter Tyrer
BMJ 2002 325: 1155. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

BERTOLOTE, J. M., FLEISCHMANN, A., DE LEO, D., WASSERMAN, D. (2003). Suicide and mental disorders: do we know enough?. Br. J. Psychiatry 183: 382-383 [Full text]