Attempted suicide: Study of the phenomenon in a sample of patients in the province of Modena

Introduction Attempted suicide consists in a self-damaging nonfatal behaviour, with an explicit or implicit evidence of the intent to die. It has a multifactorial aetiology: presence of psychiatric disorder, particularly major depression and other non-psychiatric components, like a series of stressful events. Aim To describe suicidal behavior among patients who attempted suicide. Methods Cross-sectional study. Patients admitted to three hospitals in the Province ofModena(Italy) after having attempted suicide were enrolled. Observation time: August 2015–August 2016 (13 months). Descriptive statistics made with STATA 13.0. Results A total of 187 subjects (female 65%) were enrolled in the period of time considered. Forty-one percent were aged 45–64; 43.7% had higher education; 50.4% were unemployed; 49.6% had regular income. Common means to attempt suicide were drugs (64%), weapons (11%), precipitation (10%), other (6%), choking (4%). Recent stressful events were reported by the 83.4% of respondents, namely: family conflicts (29%), economic problems (17%), personal health problems (11%), health problems affecting a family member (5%), emotional separation (9%), job loss (7%), other (22%), alcohol abuse (27%), substance abuse (4%). The main psychiatric diagnoses were: depressive disorder (56.67%), personality disorder (20%), psychotic disorder (6.67%), bipolar disorder (5.33%), behavioural disorders (2.67%), anxiety disorders (2%), dementia (1.33%). Conclusions Findings of the present study are consistent with available literature and could help to identify “high risk” groups to plan future targeted programmes.