title: Substances involved in fatal drug overdoses in Brisbane, 1979-1987.
abstract: Suicide rates may be reduced by decreasing the availability, cultural acceptance or lethality of certain methods of suicide. With these principles in mind fatal overdoses in Brisbane 1979-1987 were surveyed for substances involved. Psychotropic agents, especially barbiturates predominated. Chloral hydrate was far the most commonly implicated single compound. A case is put for curtailing the availability of barbiturates and chloral hydrate. This combined with increasing detection of depressed persons may lead to a further rise in overdoses involving antidepressants which as a group require reduction in their lethality.
authors.affiliation: Queensland Dept. of Health Valley Community Psychiatry Service, Brisbane, Australia.
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Cantor
mesh_terms: D002423:Cause of Death; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D062787:Drug Overdose / Q000401:mortality*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000506:poisoning; D011793:Queensland / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D013405:Suicide / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
chemical_list: D011619:Psychotropic Drugs