Citation

Henderson AS, Hartigan J, Davidson J, Lance GN, Duncan-Jones P, Koller KM, Ritchie K, McAuley H, Williams CL, Slaghuis W. Br. J. Psychiatry 1977; 131: 631-641.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1977, Royal College of Psychiatry)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

597689

Abstract

Parasuicide is not a single syndrome. Subtypes at present recognized are based largely on clinically derived stereotypes. When considering a series of patients, the clinician is unable to handle more than a few attributes at a time. This paper describes the application of three very different clustering algorithms to a material of 350 treated parasuicide patients. Mathematically, three types emerge. Clinically, two of these are interpretable and make sense. The types established are: I (n = 107) a group not characterized by any of the variables we examined; this group is a puzzle, mainly because the reasons for the parasuicidal act are not clear. II (n = 132) a depressed, alienated group with high life-endangerment. III (n = III) a group whose act was highly operant: they felt alienated and were angry with others. These groups did not differ significantly on demographic variables. The usefulness of this typology, particularly for management, after-care and prevention, has now to be assessed.

Language: en