Antipsychotics as a method of suicide: population based follow-up study of suicide in Northern Finland

Abstract

Aim

This study examined the trend and role of antipsychotics as a method of self-poisoning suicide.

Materials and methods

The basic data covered 483 poisoning suicides, occurring between the years 1988 and 2011, in Northern Finland, of which 178 (115 men, 63 women) were completed using antipsychotics.

Results

During the 23-year follow-up period, second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) overtook first-generation antipsychotics (FGAs) as a suicide method. Female victims, compared to males, had more commonly used quetiapine (17.5% vs. 6.1%, p = .016), while suicides using promazine were more common in males compared to females (36.5% vs. 22.2%, p = .049). People with unipolar depression had more frequently used SGAs (40.0%) or a combination of SGAs and FGAs (12.5%) than FGAs (19.2%) (p = .019) in their suicides.

Conclusion

The use of SGAs in suicides is becoming increasingly common, which calls for further studies.

Keywords:

• Antipsychotics;
• suicide;
• poisoning;
• quetiapine;
• promazine

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.