[Problems of suicide in vorarlberg (author's transl)]

Socio-psychiatric relevant data were excerpted from our own records of patients whose cases had been followed up for years and from 67 questionnaires on suicide prophylaxis established by the "Work Group for Preventive and Social Medicine" (Arbeitskreis für Vorsorge- und Sozialmedizin). The following items were dealt with: age and sex distribution, social status, habitation structure, kind of suicide attempt and, particularly, its diagnostic category. The analysis and evaluation of the data formed the basis for an attempt to work out a "new group" which would reach further than the classical diagnostic groups and which has not yet been reported in the literature. The new group is distinguished by loss of cognitive and emotional stability. This socio-psychiatric study closes with a discussion of the therapeutic aspects of prevention and intervention, the significance of which is emphasized by the high rate of repeated suicide attempts.