Hostility and deliberate self-poisoning: the role of depression

The evidence for an association between hostility and deliberate self-poisoning is reviewed. Although the concept of hostility is poorly defined and different measuring instruments may not measure the same entity, self-poisoning subjects as a group appear to have very high levels of hostility. However, depression is also associated with hostility and when studies have taken into account the psychiatric diagnosis of overdose patients it is outwardly-directed hostility which distinguishes these individuals from other psychiatric patients or normals. A model is proposed to show the inter-relationships of hostility, depression and self-poisoning.