title: Suicidal behaviour. An attempt to modify the environment. Part IV.
abstract: A study was undertaken of 76 males patients (following suicidal attempts) admitted in 1962 and 1963 to Holywell Hospital, a psychiatric hospital in Antrim, Norther Ireland. Their age, psychiatric condition, personality, intelligence, civil state, social class, religion, etc., were reviewed and the findings were compared with the findings in: (a) 100 suicidal females treated in the same hospital for the same reason in the same 2 years; (b) a group of 45 suicidal males admitted to the same hospital in 1971, and (c) a group of 91 suicidal female subjects treated in Holywell in 1971. The aim of the inquiry was to find out: (a) whether there were any sex-linked differences between these groups; (b) whether there were any changes in methods used in suicidal attempts in the last decade, and (c) whether our hypothesis about gain-motivation in many suicidal attempts was correct. The results of the study showed that: (a) sex and all personal and social factors reviewed were of little significance in the incidence of suicidal attempts and in the methods employed in their execution; (b) in both 1971 groups there was a shift from violent to non-violent means, and (c) two-thirds of all patients, irrespective of sex, social class, religion, etc., not only claimed having tried to achieve some personal gains, but apparently did achieve them by their suicidal behaviour. This seems to support our hypothesis that in many cases suicidal behaviour is in fact an attempt to modify the environment to the patient's benefit.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000437:Alcoholism; D003863:Depression; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009660:Northern Ireland; D010554:Personality Disorders; D011157:Population Dynamics; D012067:Religion; D012923:Social Class; D012931:Social Environment; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders; D013406:Suicide, Attempted; D014857:Warfare