[Suicide in Italy 1955-1980: description and epidemiological analysis]

The alarming increase in the number of suicides among young people urges a number of researchers to try to find out the motivations that, by provoking a partial and temporary loss of the intellectual faculties, drive people to the self-injuring act. We believe it is significant to mention that the difference between males and females regarding suicide and attempted suicide (the first historically characteristical of the male sex, the second to the female sex) is getting less and less noticeable, owing to, probably, the equalization which is taking place between males and females. Since 1970, in fact, we have been witnessing the trend towards the increase of the female suicide, whereas the trend of the male suicide decreases; constantly until 1976, at the end of the time interval 1955-1980 the trend shows a slower increase of about 23.3% compared to the increase of suicide for the females. We have proof of this equalization taking place between males and females by examining the tendency of the "attempted suicide" phenomenon (table 3) which shows for the same interval of time an initial, steady increase for the female until 1969 and, after a decrease of less than one-third in 1970--in connection with the beginning of the trend towards the increase of the cases of female suicide for the same year--, it shows a steady decrease compared to the starting values of the beginning of the time interval. In 1980 the decrease of the cases of female "attempted suicide" is nearly identical to the decrease of the cases of male "attempted suicide"; (51.5% for the females, 53.8% for the males). A considerable contribution in trying to explain the reasons of this self-injuring action is being given by medicine that, thanks to the progresses in the intensive care area, has often allowed to transform a suicide into an attempted suicide, giving therefore the possibility of questioning thoroughly the people who tried to take their own life in order to understand better their motivations and the meaning of the action. An important element which suicides seem to have in common is the bivalence of the action, in fact, far from being ack of love towards oneself; it is, on one hand, an injury inflicted on other people, and on the other hand it is also--and very often it assumes a blackmail-like quality expressed in a rather aggressive--an appeal to them.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)