Original communication
Who takes alcohol prior to suicide?

https://doi.org/10.1016/S1353-1131(98)90055-4Get rights and content

Abstract

Alcohol abuse is strongly associated with suicide. Alcoholics are at a high risk of suicide, and studies of case series of suicide show that alcoholics account for between 20% and 40% of all suicides. What is less clear is the role of alcohol in the events leading up to the suicide. This study reviews the characteristics of individuals who consumed alcohol prior to suicide. All cases of suicide assessed by the Department of Forensic Medicine, Dundee University between 1988 and 1995 were reviewed. Data were obtained on blood-alcohol levels of 349 cases, together with the method and circumstances of the suicide, demographic variables and reports of past psychiatric history. Forty-five per cent of suicide cases had consumed alcohol and 19% were drunk (BAC > 150 mg/dl) at the time of the suicide. Consumption of alcohol was not associated with a particular method of suicide, nor with social factors such as employment status, marital status or social class. However, alcohol use was more common among those with no previous psychiatric history. This study confirms that alcohol consumption is a common precursor to suicide. It suggests that alcohol may play a more important role in the events leading to suicide amongst individuals with no previous psychiatric history.

References (13)

  • GE Murphy et al.

    The lifetime risk of suicide in alcoholism

    Arch Gen Psychiatry

    (1990)
  • J Duffy et al.

    Risk factors for suicide and undetermined deaths among in-patient alcoholics in Scotland

    Addiction

    (1993)
  • L Hayward et al.

    Blood alcohol levels in suicide cases

    J Epidemiol Community Health

    (1992)
  • WB Mendelson et al.

    Sedatives and suicide: the San Diego study

    Acta Psychiatr Scand

    (1993)
  • R Rutledge et al.

    The association of trauma death and alcohol use in a rural state

    J Trauma

    (1992)
  • Kubo S-I et al.

    Blood alcohol concentrations of sudden unexpected deaths and non natural deaths

    Forensic Sci Int

    (1991)
There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (38)

  • Alcohol use by suicide victims in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil, 2011–2015

    2018, Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine
    Citation Excerpt :

    Excessive alcohol consumption and/or abuse of other drugs are closely linked to suicide deaths,12 as drunkenness can affect critical judgment and self-control and trigger suicidal behavior. It is well recognized that individuals with a history of psychoactive substances abuse are overrepresented in mortality statistics.13–15 Studies in European and North American countries indicate the association between alcohol consumption and suicide, despite the socio-cultural differences.16

  • Road Traffic Suicide in Switzerland

    2015, Traffic Injury Prevention
  • Blood alcohol concentration of suicide victims by partial hanging

    2013, Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine
    Citation Excerpt :

    These results are in accordance with previous reports and support the idea that violent suicide methods are more commonly associated with male suicide.16,17,28,32,34–37 Further, this study confirms previous obsevations38–40 that alcohol consumption is a common precursor to suicide as the proportion of suicide victims with blood alcohol higher than ≥0.1 g/kg at the time of death was 50.3% for the group with non-violent suicide methods in comparison to 34.4% of suicide victims who used violent suicide methods. There is a final consideration to make; the assumption in the above discussion is that the findings indicate a choice made by the victims between two forms of hanging; ‘complete’ and ‘partial’.

  • Toxicology findings in suicides: Concentrations of ethanol and other drugs in femoral blood in victims of hanging and poisoning in relation to age and gender of the deceased

    2013, Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine
    Citation Excerpt :

    Indeed, we found that in 62% of poisonings and 66% of hangings the BAC exceeded 1.0 g/L, which suggests that many victims were intoxicated at the time of death. Loss of inhibitions and impulsivity associated with excessive drinking may have triggered suicidal behaviour and it is widely known that people with substance abuse disorder are over-represented in mortality statistics.9,27 With a BAC threshold of 0.20 g/L for reporting positive results, 30% of hangings and 36% of suicidal poisonings had been drinking before death.

View all citing articles on Scopus
1

Iain K. Crombie PhD, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Dundee University, Dundee, UK

2

Derrick J. Pounder MBChB, FRC Path, Department of Forensic Medicine, The Royal Infirmary, Dundee DD1 9ND, UK

3

Peter H. Dick MBChB, FRC Psych, DPM, Department of Psychiatry, Dundee University, Dundee, UK.

View full text