During a 6 months' period, 99 persons, randomly chosen among patients admitted for attempted suicide to the Department of Psychiatry, Odense University Hospital, were interviewed. This paper, which is the first in a series, deals with the theoretical and methodological background of the survey and the validity of the sample and also with some basic social characteristics of the suicide attempters. The majority of the suicide attempters were found to be single and many of them were living alone or alone with children. The sample could also be characterized by a low level of vocational education and by lack of association with the labour market. The suicide attempters could not, however, be unequivocally described as being in bad financial circumstances, neither were they solely from the lower social classes; the social status profile of the suicide attempters was closer to the status profile of suiciders, with relatively many persons from both upper and lower classes and few from the middle class.
Historical accounts emphasize a high rate of mental morbidity in the Faroe Islands compared with Denmark. As prerequisites for a comparative investigation are now present, we have compared a 10-year period of first admission rates in both areas. We found a lower rate for the Faroes generally, in particular for women, for the age group 30-64, and also for the majority of diagnostic groups. The group manic-depressive psychosis come closest to Danish conditions, followed by reactive psychosis and alcohol and drug abuse. The greatest difference was found for the groups personal disorders, neuroses, and schizophrenia.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.