Self-Poisoning in Adolescents

Abstract

Fifty consecutive patients aged 14-19 admitted to a city general hospital following deliberate self-poisoning were studied. The majority were girls from social classes III and IV. Immigrants were over-represented. Group mean scores on the N scale of the EPI were high, and there was a bimodal distribution of scores on Raven's Progressive Matrices. Most patients had suffered family separation or disturbance, and the overdose followed interpersonal crises. Few had formal psychiatric illness. Withdrawal from treatment was common. Over half the patients were improved after one year, but up to one quarter continued disturbed.