title: Patterns of suicide among hospitalized mentally disordered offenders.
abstract: The case records of 29 mentally disordered offenders who committed suicide in a state hospital were reviewed. Information was collected on demographic and clinical characteristics; time, method and location of the suicides; and the presence of suicide indicators. Comparisons were made between the characteristics of the suicide patients and those of the current hospital population. Major findings were: 80 percent of the suicides were committed by psychotic patients and 66 percent were by patients with diagnoses which included paranoia; 48 percent of the suicide patients had been charged with or convicted of murder or attempted murder; most suicides occurred in individual patient rooms; nearly 50 percent of the patients had a history of suicide attempts; and other common indicators of suicide risk were often masked by psychotic symptomatology. Several recommendations for identifying and managing potentially suicidal patients in this population are presented.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002140:California; D003134:Commitment of Persons with Psychiatric Disorders; D003415:Crime; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000150:complications*; D011329:Prisoners / Q000523:psychology*; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000627:therapeutic use; D013405:Suicide / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D000092864:Suicide Prevention
chemical_list: D011619:Psychotropic Drugs