[Clinical-psychiatric and social-psychologic study of suicidal attempts]

The study concerned 148 patients attempting suicide over the period from 1980 to 1990. The patients were hospitalized or examined for suicidal attempts in the Institute of psychiatry, University Clinical Centre, Belgrade. The analysis included statements of the patients, information obtained from witnesses and accompanying persons, objective medical and clinical findings noted on admission, psychiatric and psychologic findings. The phenomenologic statistical study greatly confirmed data reported in the up-to-date referential literature. The background data, clinical-psychiatric and psychologic personality analysies were observed and classified according to suicidal motives. The classification defined three basic types of suicidal reaction: escape, attack and cry for help. Within them some of the basic motives were found in each of the suicidal personalities. In our series only 53.5% of patients endangered their lives severely or seriously; in them the suicidal attempts would result in either fatal outcome or major disability during the absence of appropriate care in a of health service. In the authors' opinion this article evaluates the degree of actual risk to which suicidal individuals are exposed, refusing the old, strictly medical model which took into account only the objectively estimated vital risk without any detailed elaboration of personality analysis or analysis of social motives.