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Attempted Suicide in Oxford and Utrecht

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Martha Grootenhuis ,
Keith Hawton ,
Liesbeth Van Rooijen  and
Joan Fagg
Martha Grootenhuis
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Academisch Ziekenhuis Utrecht, The Netherlands
Keith Hawton*
Affiliation:
University Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, Oxford
Liesbeth Van Rooijen
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Academisch Ziekenhuis Utrecht
Joan Fagg
Affiliation:
University Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital
*
Dr K. Hawton, University Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, Oxford OX3 7JX
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Extract

Background

Attempted suicide rates are much higher in the UK than in the Netherlands. We have compared the characteristics of suicide attempters referred to general hospitals in Oxford and Utrecht.

Method

We compared the characteristics of referrals for attempted suicide to a general hospital in Oxford and one in Utrecht, for the years 1988 and 1989.

Results

Most of the attempters in Oxford were young whereas attempters in Utrecht were older; this age difference was particularly marked in females. Utrecht attempters appeared more often to have socio-economic problems and to suffer from psychiatric and personality disorders (except substance abuse), even when account was taken of the age differences of the two populations.

Conclusions

There is some evidence for different thresholds for attempted suicide in the UK and the Netherlands, although other social explanations for the difference in attempted suicide rates are feasible and require further study.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 165 , Issue 1 , July 1994 , pp. 73 - 78
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1994 

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