Deliberate self poisoning in adolescents

A retrospective study of 90 adolescents admitted to a district general hospital after deliberate drug overdoses was carried out. Underlying risk factors, the inpatient assessment, and the initial management offered to each patient were recorded. The longer term outcomes were assessed, with particular emphasis on psychiatric and related disorders. Many had underlying family problems; the parents of nearly half the patients were separated or divorced, and over half the families had already been seen by the social services or at the child guidance clinic. Three quarters of the patients had psychiatric assessments during admission, and of these 59 (66%)