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Original papers: Michael Bessant, Elizabeth A. King, and Robert Peveler Characteristics of suicides in recent contact with NHS Direct Psychiatr Bull 2008; 32: 92-95 [Abstract] [Full text] [PDF]

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Characteristics of suicides in recent contact with NHS Direct

MEGAN T THEODOULOU, Christopher Bass   (4 April 2008)

Characteristics of suicides in recent contact with NHS Direct 4 April 2008
MEGAN T THEODOULOU, Consultant Old Age Psychiatrist Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, Christopher Bass Send letter to journal: Re: Characteristics of suicides in recent contact with NHS Direct megan.theodoulou{at}obmh.nhs.uk MEGAN T THEODOULOU, et al.	We read with interest the article by Bessant et al (Psychiatric Bulletin March 2008, 32, 92-95) in which they reported that, of suicides who contacted NHS Direct in previous year, over half reported physical complaints. There appears to be a higher age subset of patients with painful physical problems who are at high risk of suicide. This is indeed a neglected field of research. We carried out a retrospective case note study of all deliberate self harm (DSH) patients with concurrent medical problems admitted to a general hospital after presenting to Accident and Emergency. We found pain to be a contributory factor in 4% of the cases. At 46, we also found the mean age of these patients to be older. Sixty percent of the patients had experienced pain for over six months and also had a relatively high prevalence of previous psychiatric disorder. They had a significantly higher suicidal intent associated with their acts of DSH than those with non-painful physical problems. We recommended closer collaboration between general hospital services and local pain clinics for deliberate self harm patients with painful disorders. Furthermore, we would encourage all clinicians to assess suicidal ideation and risk of self harm when prescribing for this population. This is particularly important when considering prescribing analgesics or tricyclic antidepressants. Theodoulou M, Harriss L, Hawton K, Bass C. Pain and deliberate self-harm: an important association. J Psychosom Res. 2005 Apr;58(4):317-20 Yours Faithfully Megan Theodoulou Consultant Old Age Psychiatrist Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust Christopher Bass Consultant Psychiatrist Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust Declaration of Interest: None