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A perspective on suicides in the ‘90s

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Philip Meats*
Affiliation:
Millbrook, King's Mill, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire NG17 4JT
Bohdan Solomka
Affiliation:
Millbrook, King's Mill, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire NG17 4JT
*
Correspondence
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Abstract

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We reviewed all 112 suicides and self-harm open verdicts in Central Nottinghamshire between 1987 and 1991. The rate of consultation with general practitioners of completed suicides was similar to control patients a year before death. It then increased during the succeeding months, particularly in the month before death, when 41% consulted their general practitioner. A further 12% saw another doctor in their last month. Those who did not consult were more likely to be middle-aged, male, divorced or separated, to have experienced a recent broken relationship, and to show evidence of planning the suicide. Better awareness may have detected and possibly prevented some suicides in consulters. Those who did not consult a doctor had different characteristics. Additional strategies would be needed to prevent these deaths.

Type
Original Papers
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1995

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