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Self-Poisoning — A Complication of Epilepsy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

A. Mackay
A. Mackay*
Affiliation:
Gardiner Institute, Western Infirmary Glasgow G11 6NT
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Summary

From 1972 to 1976 130 epileptics presented 171 times to the Western Infirmary, Glasgow, as medical emergencies with self-poisoning. They constituted 3.5 per cent of 3,733 patients poisoning themselves on 4,121 occasions. Repetition of self-poisoning was commoner in epileptics (18.5 per cent) than in non-epileptics (7.0 per cent). The 130 epileptics have been compared with a non-epileptic group of self-poisoners matched for age, sex, and number of repetitions and have been found to have less alcohol excess but significantly more psychopathy. Possible explanations and prophylactic measures are discussed. In view of the relative incidence of epilepsy and self-poisoning in the community, and of epilepsy among self-poisoners in this and other studies, it is concluded that self-poisoning is a common complication of epilepsy.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 134 , Issue 3 , March 1979 , pp. 277 - 282
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1979 

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