Suicide attempt and the emergency room of the general hospital

Data are presented on 270 consecutive cases of suicide attempts examined by a psychiatrist in a community general hospital's emergency room in Tel Aviv, Israel, during the years 1972--1974. The rates were 55:100,000, 42:100,000 and 33:100,000 respectively. The male-female ratio was 1:4. Predominantly young women having emotional problems used an overdosage of tranquillizers in an attempt to secure help. The second category of patients attempting suicide were males suffering from mental illness.