The prevalence of aborted suicide attempts among psychiatric in‐patients

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Abstract
We report the prevalence of aborted suicide attempts in which the essential characteristics are (i) intent to kill oneself, (ii) a change of mind before making an actual suicide attempt and (iii) the absence of physical injury. The lifetime history of aborted suicide attempts was assessed by semi‐structured interview of 733 patients, aged 18–59 years, who were consecutively admitted to a psychiatric hospital. In the study group, 46% of subjects had made a suicide attempt and 29% had made at least one aborted attempt during their lifetime. Subjects who had made aborted attempts were more likely to have made actual attempts. Approximately 11% of the subjects in the study group had a history of aborted attempts of potential high lethality, such as going to a height in order to jump, or holding a gun to the head. There were no major demographic differences between those with and without a history of aborted attempts. However, among those with no prior history of actual attempts, subjects with depression and a family history of suicide were more than twice as likely as those without such a history to have made an aborted attempt. Aborted suicide attempts are a common suicidal behaviour among psychiatric in‐patients. Whether they predict actual attempts or suicide warrants prospective investigation.

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