title: Suicide among military conscripts in Finland: a psychological autopsy study.
abstract: This study describes suicides during compulsory military service and compares them with other young male suicides as part of a nationwide psychological autopsy study of all suicides in Finland during a single year. The victims' relatives and attending health care personnel were interviewed, and data from records were collected. Five of the seven conscript suicides had a depressive syndrome, often of short duration. Two victims previously had suicidal thoughts or attempted suicide. The most common suicide method was with firearms. Compared with other young male suicides, physical illness in conjunction with a psychiatric diagnosis was less common in the conscript victims. Civilian male suicides tended to have more substance abuse and more severe psychological impairment. They also committed suicide under the influence of alcohol more often than conscripts. Interpersonal separation was more often the precipitating event of the suicide among the conscripts than among the other suicides. Conscripts should be encouraged to utilize health and social services when they have psychosocial problems or even minor psychiatric symptoms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mental Health, National Public Health Institute, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marttunen
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Henriksson
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pelkonen
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schroderus
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lönnqvist
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D005389:Firearms; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000150:complications; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology*; D000092864:Suicide Prevention