Attributes of patients who attempt suicide: a comparison with the clients of the Samaritans

Abstract

This study is an inquiry into alternative forms of crisis behaviour, investigating those individuals who in times of stress commit ’’attempted suicide” (a parasuicidal act) and those who, in apparently similar circumstances, seek help from a social agency. The inquiry is based on comparisons between the "attempted suicide” patients (parasuicides) admitted to the Regional Poisoning Treatment Centre at the Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh, and the clients of the Telephone Samaritans organisation in Edinburgh.

The Samaritans offer help to the suicidal and despairing. It was assumed, and the study confirms, that in general terms their clients have reached crises in problem situations similar to those of parasuicides.

The study begins with a description of the demographic and social characteristics sties of a representative sample of 350 clients of the Edinburgh Telephone Samaritans at the time of the clients* first contacts. These characteristics are shown in relation to those of the population of Edinburgh, and are then compared with those of a representative sample of 292 parasuicide patients.

The findings show the Samaritan clients to be a sub-group of the general population with distinguishable features. They are drawn chiefly from the younger age—groups and the lower socio-economic classes; they may be married or single but are often living alone. A marked similarity appears between the male Samaritan clients and the male parasuicides, particularly in respect of age, marital states and social class, and they tend to live in the same areas of the city. The two female groups have much less in common. One unexpected and significant feature is that,while women predominate among the parasuicide patients, the majority of the Samaritan clients are male: among the Edinburgh clients the proportion of males to females is twice as great as in the city population.

The study continues with a more detailed comparison made between those clients who showed persistence in seeking help from the Samaritans and those patients who had committed parasuicidal acts but were apparently capable of seeking help had they wished to do so. For this purpose 109 Samaritan clients selected as persistent help—seekers were compared with 93 parasuicide patients selected as capable of seeking help. Again the clients are predominantly male and the parasuicides are mostly female. The study exhibits and discusses the similarities and dissimilarities between these two groups. The most notable features suggest that lack of inter-personal contact or social isolation lead distressed individuals to seek advice from outsiders (in this case the Samaritans) whereas the less isolated who experience inter-personal disharmony tend in similar situations of stress to commit parasuicjdal acts.

Finally, the study considers the reasons for not seeking help given by those parasuicides capable of seeking help. The same 93 parasuicide patients were questioned as to their attitudes towards help-seeking both generally and in the context of their parasuicidal act. Their choice of action was clearly related to their subjective views of their situation. A self-reliant group either considered that no help was required or were against seeking help, while the remainder had made some effort to seek help but felt that effective help was not available. The study describes the nature of the service provided by the Samaritans, and considers what kind of service might help to reduce the incidence of parasuicide.