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Suicide Attempts 1970—75: Updating a United States Study and Comparisons with International Trends

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Lawrence Wexler ,
Myrna M. Weissman  and
Stanislav V. Kasl
Lawrence Wexler
Affiliation:
Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, 60 College Street, New Haven, Connecticut 06510
Myrna M. Weissman
Affiliation:
Yale University School of Medicine and Connecticut Mental Health Center, Depression Research Unit, 904 Howard Avenue, Suite 2A, New Haven, Connecticut 06519
Stanislav V. Kasl
Affiliation:
Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, 408 LEPH, 60 College Street, New Haven, Connecticut 06510, USA
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Abstract

This paper brings up to date a 1970 study of suicide attempters coming to a major emergency room in an United States urban community and reviews international trends in suicide attempts. Results of the study and the review of the international literature indicate that the high rates of suicide attempts that were observed in 1970 are continuing into 1975. The incidence of suicide attempts continues to be a public health problem primarily among young women. Pill ingestion, usually barbiturates and psychotropic drugs, continues to be the most common method used.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 132 , Issue 2 , February 1978 , pp. 180 - 185
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1978 

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