PSYCHIATRIC-DIAGNOSIS IN SELF-POISONING PATIENTS

The Present State Examination was administered to 539 patients who attended a casualty department after an act of self-poisoning during the course of a year. Computer analysis by means of the Catego program showed that 30 % of the patients had insufficient symptoms to be considered as psychiatric ‘cases'. Fewer than 4 % had symptoms of functional psychosis. About 60 % of the patients were classed as depressed: on several indices this group was less severely ill than a group of depressives receiving psychiatric treatment. It is suggested that psychiatric treatment is essential for only a small proportion of self-poisoning patients. The effectiveness of psychiatric treatment for the large group of patients with depressive disorders of minor severity and probably short duration has still to be evaluated. © 1979, Cambridge University Press. All rights reserved.