Social, toxicological and meteorological data on suicide attempts

Summary

A sample of 151 patients, admitted to an Intensive Care Unit after attempted suicide by poisoning was analysed with regard to age, drugs consumed, possible causal factors and influence of weather. The German Weather Service provided the meteorological data. Mean age of the patients was 37.6 years. The patients had taken barbiturates, aggressive chemicals, tranquillizers or a combination of drugs (47%). Alcohol had been taken in addition to the drugs in 24%, which might indicate a trigger function. The main provoking causes for the suicide attempts were conflicts in partnerships and occupational problems. Some 15% of the patients had previously diagnosed psychiatric disorders. There was a significant positive correlation between the time of attempted suicide and the weather parameters “stable upslide, labile upslide, fog, thunderstorm, warm air, upslide and weather drier than on the 2 preceding days”. Significantly fewer attempts than expected occurred with “low pressure and trough situation, labile ground layer-upslide above, subsidence or downslide motion”. Apart from individual provoking factors, such as the reaction to conflicts and the spectrum of reactions, exogenous factors like weather must be considered as important for the timing of suicide attempts. These results may be of relevance for suicide prevention.