Alcohol Intoxication and Suicide by Hanging in Poland

Lasota, Dorota; Pawłowski, Witold; Krajewski, Paweł; Staniszewska, Anna; Goniewicz, Krzysztof; Czerski, Robert; Goniewicz, Mariusz

doi:10.1093/alcalc/agaa013

Cited by 5 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…In Poland, hanging is the most common method of committing suicide [53]. According to the Polish Police database in 2017, 4,313 (81.75%) (out of 5,276 fatal suicides were performed by hanging.…”

Section: Ethanol Effects On Auto-aggression Behaviourmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethanol as a stimulus to risky and auto-aggressive behaviour

Lasota¹,

Pawłowski²,

Mirowska‐Guzel³

et al. 2021

Ann Agric Environ Med.

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According to the World Health Organization (WHO), ethyl alcohol occupies the third place among health risks for the general population, causing damage to health as well as social damage. Ethanol is also considered the greatest risk factor in injuries. Both alcohol and its main metabolite, acetaldehyde, are directly toxic to tissues and lead to several systemic pathologies. Alcohol abuse may also lead to mental health disorders. Although one-in-eight adult Poles abstains from drinking alkohol, 10-20% of adult Poles drink alcohol regularly. It is estimated that this group includes about 900,000 addicts, and over 2,000,000 people who drink alcohol at a risky or harmful level. It affects their occurrence and their consequences Drinkdriving is one of the problems most often raised, although alcohol is a documented risk factor in pedestrian accidents. It is also an important risk factor for suicidal behaviour with people under the influence of alcohol choosing more radical and effective methods of committing suicide, such as hanging or 'throwing themselves under a moving vehicle.' Only properly selected and consistently taken preventive actions can improve the tragic statistics related to ethanol stimulating risky and auto-aggressive behaviours. It is also necessary to improve the system for reporting such events because only reliable statistics enable proper assessment of the scale of the problem, and the effectiveness of these activities.

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Section: Ethanol Effects On Auto-aggression Behaviourmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethanol as a stimulus to risky and auto-aggressive behaviour

Lasota¹,

Pawłowski²,

Mirowska‐Guzel³

et al. 2021

Ann Agric Environ Med.

Self Cite

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“…In Poland, the most common method of suicide is hanging, mainly among men, while women most often try to take large amounts of drugs [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ]. Additionally, in the presented analysis, hanging was the leading method of suicide.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Additionally, in the presented analysis, hanging was the leading method of suicide. In general, in the case of suicide deaths, more radical methods which guarantee certain death, such as the aforementioned hanging, jumping from a height, throwing oneself under a moving vehicle (most often a train), drowning or shooting oneself, prevailed [ 19 , 20 , 22 ]. Hanging, jumping from a height, self-harm, impairment of the cardiovascular system or taking sleeping pills (and other medications) are the most common methods of suicide attempts ( Figure 2 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of Suicide Methods and Substances Influencing the State of Consciousness of Their Victims in Poland

Lasota

Mirowska‐Guzel

Goniewicz³

2021

IJERPH

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An integral part of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) mental health action plan for 2013–2020 is suicide prevention, and a 10% reduction in the suicide rate. A key element of the preventive measures taken is, among other things, limiting access to means enabling and facilitating committing suicide. However, this requires detailed knowledge of community suicide patterns and preferences. Unfortunately, such information is not usually collected, and the recorded method of committing suicide is often imprecise and untrue, which means that such knowledge has limited application in presuicidal prophylaxis. The statistical data on suicides recorded as part of the Police Statistics in Poland during the years 2009–2019 was analyzed. The analysis included suicide deaths and suicide attempts, taking into account the suicide methods and substances influencing the state of consciousness of their victims. The number of suicides in Poland in the analyzed period tended to increase. The most common method of suicide was hanging, and alcohol was the substance influencing the state of consciousness of suicide victims. The statistics for 2017–2019 showed the presence of new methods of suicide, such as taking drugs other than hypnotics, intoxication with narcotic drugs, poisoning with designer drugs, suffocation and self-immolation, as well as new psychoactive substances affecting the state of consciousness of victims, i.e., drugs and narcotic drugs. The effectiveness of actions taken in Poland in the field of suicide prevention does not bring the desired effects, as evidenced by growing number of suicides. This low effectiveness is mainly due to the lack of a national suicide prevention strategy. The effectiveness of these activities may be improved by creating a uniform database of suicides, which is a source of reliable information which will allow the taking of actions aimed at limiting the availability of means enabling and facilitating the committing of suicide. The study aimed to analyze the types of suicide methods and substances influencing the state of consciousness of their victims in Poland in the years covered by the study.

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“…According to Polish Police Headquarters statistics for 2019, 5255 deaths by suicide were recorded. These were most often due to hanging (80.68%), but also jumping from heights (6.28%) and jumping under a moving vehicle (2.51%), e.g., under an oncoming train [ 18 , 19 , 20 ]. Entering the path of a moving train is a method that is considered a sure and quick death and is easily accessible and does not threaten the lives of third parties [ 20 , 21 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These were most often due to hanging (80.68%), but also jumping from heights (6.28%) and jumping under a moving vehicle (2.51%), e.g., under an oncoming train [ 18 , 19 , 20 ]. Entering the path of a moving train is a method that is considered a sure and quick death and is easily accessible and does not threaten the lives of third parties [ 20 , 21 ]. The factors which contribute to this efficacy are the long braking distance of the train, its large mass, inability to change direction when an obstacle is noticed, the speed at which it moves, and the injuries to the whole body which results in little chance of survival (on railway lines, the chances are much lower than within the railway station—6% vs. 16%) and quick death [ 22 , 23 , 24 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alcohol and the Risk of Railway Suicide

Lasota

Al-Wathinani

Krajewski

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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Suicide is one of the ten most common causes of death in the world. Of all deaths from suicide, 22% can be attributed to the use of alcohol, which means that every fifth suicide would not occur if alcohol were not consumed by the population. People under the influence of alcohol choose more radical and effective methods of dying by suicide, e.g., throwing themselves under a moving vehicle, such as a train. The presented analysis aimed to determine important risk factors affecting railway suicide in Poland and their relation to the state of alcohol intoxication of the victims, and the relationship between ethyl alcohol consumption and the phenomenon of suicide. Documentation obtained from the Department of Forensic Medicine at the Medical University of Warsaw, in the form of death registers and forensic medical records concerning examination and autopsy, was analyzed. This made it possible to identify suicide victims from among pedestrian victims of railway accidents recorded during the period under study. The research was carried out using unidimensional and multidimensional statistical analyses with IBM SPSS Statistics, version 25. Sober suicide victims were statistically significantly older than victims under the influence of alcohol; alcohol concentration was correlated with the age of the victims—the older the victims were, the higher the alcohol concentration. A significantly higher number of deaths attributed to suicide by sober victims was observed in autumn compared to other seasons. Multidimensional analysis showed a statistically significant effect of age and season on the probability of dying by suicide under the influence of alcohol—this probability decreases with the age of the victims and is also significantly lower in autumn. The observed relationship between age and the presence of alcohol in suicide victims can be the cause of railway suicides. Knowledge of the mechanisms of seasonal variability of suicidal behavior can help to develop effective strategies to prevent railway suicides. It is necessary to improve the system of reporting railway suicides, as only reliable statistics provide the possibility of assessing both the scale of the problem and the effectiveness of actions taken.

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Alcohol Intoxication and Suicide by Hanging in Poland

Cited by 5 publications

References 30 publications

Ethanol as a stimulus to risky and auto-aggressive behaviour

Ethanol as a stimulus to risky and auto-aggressive behaviour

Analysis of Suicide Methods and Substances Influencing the State of Consciousness of Their Victims in Poland

Alcohol and the Risk of Railway Suicide

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