TY  - JOUR
PY  - 1996//
TI  - Alcohol and drugs in suicides
JO  - British journal of psychiatry
A1  - Ohberg, A.
A1  - Vuori, Erkki
A1  - Ojanpera, I.
A1  - Lonngvist, J.
SP  - 75
EP  - 80
VL  - 169
IS  - 1
N2  - BACKGROUND: Alcohol and drugs use were assessed in a nationwide one year suicide study in Finland. METHOD: Alcohol and drugs use were analysed in 1348 suicides, 96.5% of all suicides in the study year. Relative suicide risks for drugs were defined by relating the number of suicides committed by use of various drugs to drug availability. RESULTS: Alcohol was detected twice as often in men as in women; the opposite was the case with drugs. The drugs most commonly used for suicide were neuroleptics and antidepressants, which were, in 74.3% and 77.4% of the cases, respectively, the victims own prescribed drugs. Antidepressants were found in 19.0% of women and only 4.8% of men. Relative suicide risk for antidepressants varied substantially between different compounds. CONCLUSIONS: Undertreatment of depression is a challenge for suicide prevention. Those who commit suicide by antidepressants use their own drugs. Relative suicide risk for a drug should be considered when choosing treatment for depressive patients.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0007-1250
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -