[Attachment styles, childhood and adult traumatic experiences, mental states and methods of suicide attempts among psychiatrically treated women].

AIM The purpose of this study was to explore any particular personality traits and psychosocial conditions of suicidal attempts among women, especially their adult attachment styles, harmful social experiences in childhood, adult live events and mental states directly leading to suicidal effort and methods of suicide. METHOD A group of 35 psychiatrically treated women who attempted suicide were submitted to the study. The following measures were used: Attachment Style Test, structured psychological interview. RESULTS Women, who attempted suicide mainly described their attachment style as avoidant; the types of problems they reported as being significant were: experiences of violence in their childhood, loss of members of their families, suicide of their relatives in their adulthood, being the victims of marital violence; those women mainly felt social rejection and overdosed medications when trying to commit suicide. CONCLUSIONS Parasuicides were characterised by avoidant attachment style and had a variety of traumatic and harmful experiences during their lifetime, that established their victimisation process and the wish of auto-destruction.