The repetitiveness of self-poisoning and self-injury

A year's cohort of 690 suicide 'attempters' was followed for two years in order to monitor further attempts leading to referral to the general hospital. Eighteen per cent were involved in one or more repeat episodes, 16 per cent within the first year. More repeats occurred within the first three months than in the rest of the 21 months, and a large majority of repeats occurred within the first year. Study of a smaller cohort of 141 persons gave information about the frequency and timing of previous attempts. Forty-five per cent had made previous recognized attempts and 10 per cent previous unrecognized attempts. Sixty persons reported 166 previous attempts. Of previous attempters 32 per cent made two or more attempts within a three-month period. Three types of repeaters are suggested: (a) the chronic, habitual repeater; (b) the individual who repeats several times within a short period, and (c) the 'one-off' very occasional repeater.