A transcultural evaluation of "self poisoning" in Sri Lanka.
64 patients admitted to Kandy General Hospital, Sri Lanka, following 'self-poisoning' were interviewed. The sample resembled those from Western countries in that a major cause was inter-personal disputes, but differed from the West in that the disputes were mainly between patient and kin. Other differences were that social isolation was not a cause, agricultural pesticides were the commonest poisons used, relatively few patients were referred for psychiatric advice, and recidivism was very infrequent. An attempt is made to explain the differences on a socio-cultural basis.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000359:Aftercare; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011041:Poisoning / Q000523:psychology*; D013188:Sri Lanka; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000523:psychology*