SUICIDE ATTEMPTS, THE WAY OF COMMITTING THEM AND, SOCIO-DEMO- GRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS DURING 2003 IN PATIENTS TREATED IN THE CLINICAL CENTER, NIS

The behavior characterized by enmity towards one’s own being, where urges for auto-destructive aggression overcome the instincts for self-preservation is seen only in the human species. In order to understand fully such an act we must recognize the complex dynamics of intra-psychic occurrences, sometimes initiated years before the tragic event. The nature of these auto-destructive events is most often impulsive. On the other hand, parasuicide is any auto-destructive behavior without a fatal outcome. From a clinical point of view, this is less a syndrome within an already present psychopathology and more a way of coping with an unbearable crisis and an expression of person’s psychological breakdown.In recent years, in our country, we have noticed an increase in parasuicidal behavior, mostly among younger and middle-aged population. The most common form of this behavior is the self-administration of medicaments and poisonous substances (corrosive agents and pesticides), and they are all initially treated at Toxicology department of Endocrinology Clinic. Regular psychiatric consultations at this Clinic enabled us to follow this phenomenon, with purpose of establishing psychopathological and social factors leading to this kind of behavior. We presented data from year 2003 concerning suicidal patients treated at Department of Toxicology at Institute for Mental Health in order to highlight the key characteristics of this phenomenon in our community.