Relationship between Personality Profiles and Suicide Attempt via Medicine Poisoning among Hospitalized Patients: A Case-Control Study

Abstract

Objectives. Inflexible personality traits play an important role in the development of maladaptive behaviors among patients who attempt suicide. This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between personality profiles and suicide attempt via medicine poisoning among the patients hospitalized in a public hospital. Materials and Methods. Fifty-nine patients who attempted suicide for the first time and hospitalized in the poisoning ward were selected as the experimental group. Sixty-three patients hospitalized in the other wards for a variety of reasons were selected as the adjusted control group. Millon Clinical Multiaxial Personality Inventory, 3rd version (MCMI-III) was used to assess the personality profiles. Results. The majority of the suicide attempters were low-level graduates (67.8% versus 47.1%, OR = 2.36). 79.7% of the suicide attempters were suffering from at least one maladaptive personality profile. The most common maladaptive personality profiles among the suicide attempters were depressive personality disorder (40.7%) and histrionic personality disorder (32.2%). Among the syndromes the most common ones were anxiety clinical syndrome (23.7%) and major depression (23.7%). Conclusion. Major depression clinical syndrome, histrionic personality disorder, anxiety clinical syndrome, and depressive personality disorder are among the predicators of first suicide attempts for the patients hospitalized in the public hospital due to the medicine poisoning.