Abstract
Background: Although substance misuse is a key risk factor in suicide, relatively little is known about the relationship between lifetime misuse and misuse at the time of suicide.
Aims: To examine the relationship between substance misuse and subsequent suicide.
Method: Linkage of coroners' reports to primary care records for 403 suicides occurring over 2 years.
Results: With alcohol misuse, 67% of the cohort had previously sought help for alcohol problems and 39% were intoxicated at the time of suicide. Regarding misuse of other substances, 54% of the cohort was tested. Almost one in four (38%) tested positive, defined as an excess of drugs over the prescribed therapeutic dosage and/or detection of illicit substances. Those tested were more likely to be young and have a history of drug misuse.
Conclusions: A deeper understanding of the relationship between substance misuse and suicide could contribute to prevention initiatives. Furthermore, standardised toxicology screening processes would avoid diminishing the importance of psychosocial factors involved in suicide as a 'cause of death'.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 292 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | The British Journal of Psychiatry |
| Volume | 208 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Early online date | 11 May 2015 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Nov 2015 |
Keywords
- Mental health
- suicide
- help-seeking
- alcohol
- drugs
- substance misuse
Fingerprint Dive into the research topics of 'Substance misuse in life and death in a 2-year cohort of suicides'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.
Press / Media
-
Lady Gaga’s Twitter blunder and why speculating about suicide after a celebrity death is problematic
Karen Galway & Sharon Mallon
10/08/2018
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment
-
Abortion ban in Northern Ireland likely to worsen mental health crisis
Karen Galway & Sharon Mallon
20/06/2018
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment
