Suicide in Norwegian, Finnish, and Swedish psychiatric hospitals

Summary

The numbers of suicides in Norwegian, Swedish, and Finnish psychiatric hospitals during the period 1930 to 1974 are analyzed. The suicide rate in the psychiatric hospitals of all three countries has risen markedly. The author's methods and results are compared with those of other authors. Explanations for the rise in suicide rate are discussed. According to the author: (1) With the expansion of psychiatric treatment facilities, an increasing number of all who commit suicide in a country have been admitted to psychiatric hospitals. (2) To be admitted to a psychiatric hospital represents more of a defeat and entails greater social pressure today than before. It is more difficult to readjust to work and family now than 20 years ago. (3) To some extent, the rise may be regarded as a side-effect of modern therapeutic methods, with the introduction of the open-door policy, milieu therapy, ataractic drugs, rehabilitation pressure, and democracy processes. That a greater number of all who commit suicide are now treated in psychiatric hospitals increases our possibilities of preventing suicide, particularly if we stake more on after-care measures. Priority should be given to suicide research, especially to the better prediction of high risk of suicide from demographic and clinical variables and to the improvement of prophylactic treatment, including network therapy and long-term psychotherapy.