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Suicidal Ideation as a Presenting Complaint

Associated Diagnoses and Characteristics in a Casualty Population

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Christopher J. Hawley ,
David V. James ,
Paul L. Birkett ,
David S. Baldwin ,
Marian J. De Ruiter  and
Robert G. Priest
Christopher J. Hawley
Affiliation:
Clinical Research Fellow, Charing Cross Hospital, Fulham
David V. James
Affiliation:
The Royal Free Hospital, Hampstead
Paul L. Birkett
Affiliation:
The National Hospital for Nervous Diseases, Queen Square
David S. Baldwin
Affiliation:
St Mary's Hospital, Paddington
Marian J. De Ruiter
Affiliation:
Glenside Hospital, Bristol
Robert G. Priest*
Affiliation:
St Mary's Hospital Medical School, Paddington
*
∗Academic Department of Psychiatry, St Mary's Hospital, Praed Street, London W2
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Abstract

A prospective study was conducted of all referrals to the emergency psychiatric service of an inner-London hospital over one year. There were 53 individuals who presented with the specific and spontaneous complaint of suicidal ideation without any accompanying act of self-harm. The main diagnoses in this group were personality disorders (40%) and alcohol dependence (15%); only 13% were suffering from depressive illness. Members of the group differed from the other 369 presenters to the service in that they were less likely to be accorded a diagnosis of a defined mental illness, twice as likely to have a criminal record, and more likely to have a previous history of deliberate self-harm. A quarter of the suicidal complainants were admitted to hospital following assessment.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 159 , Issue 2 , August 1991 , pp. 232 - 238
Copyright
Copyright © 1991 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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