Abstract
About 4% of all suicides are estimated to occur while being an inpatient in a psychiatric facility. Staff generally assume that an inpatient suicide reflects a failure on their part to recognise the patient’s suicidal intent and whether it could have been prevented in any way. Inpatients who commit suicide do not seem to be a homogenous group, but some risk factors have been identified, including being young, single, male, unemployed, abusing substances, schizophrenia and personality- and affective disorders. Number of admissions in the previous month also appears to be a risk factor. When the numbers of inpatients are high, more violent incidents occu. Although literature presently do not suggest an association, overcrowding in psychiatric inpatient wards should be considered a risk factor for inpatient suicide.
Highlights
[1] About 4% of all suicides in England and Wales[2] are estimated to occur while the person is an inpatient in a psychiatric facility
In order to actualise efficacious treatment, it is imperative that the contributing causes of inpatient suicides be examined
Other studies reporting on inpatient suicide found the risk of suicide high in patients with personality and affective disorders[1] and poor relationships with family members.[6]
Summary
To the Editor: The risk of suicide among people with mental illness is estimated to be 10 times higher than in the general population. [1] About 4% of all suicides in England and Wales[2] are estimated to occur while the person is an inpatient in a psychiatric facility. The purpose of this letter is to explore the potential risk factors and to consider the possibility of whether overcrowding could have been a contributing element when three inpatients committed suicide in the male acute ward of a psychiatric hospital in the Eastern Cape, between March 2012 and August 2013. The first patient, an 18-year-old male, committed suicide in March 2012 at 12h50.
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