Results for acute alcohol measured as a categorical variable (present or absent) showed that the presence of alcohol did not differ at a statistically significant level among the 3 methods of suicide. There were statistically significant interactions between positive BAC and age, Blacks, and Asian/Pacific Islanders. Prevalence estimates and BAC means were estimated for the different sociodemographic indicators by method of suicide. Between groups differences were tested using logistic regression and analysis of variance. Multinomial logistic regression27 was used to assess the association between BAC (defined as positive vs negative or as a continuous variable) and method of suicide after adjusting for gender, age, race/ethnicity, and death investigation system. A model comparing firearms to hanging (referent category) was also tested.
Availability of data and material
- The stable growth in the reporting of DSPs to the FAERS in the last two decades, primarily from the US and Europe, is plausibly related to both the evolution of spontaneous reporting systems and to the increase in suicides observed in the US 3.
- Additionally, a wrong combination of drugs, especially prescribed by several doctors, can cause a strong toxic effect that is dangerous to health and life 22.
- We downloaded FAERS quarterly data 34 from January 2004 to December 2021, and preprocessed them for drug standardization, deduplication, and selection of the latest case version.
- Thousands of people under 21 die from alcohol-related deaths in the U.S. each year.
- The results suggested that alcohol use before suicide was influenced by several factors, including age, race/ethnicity, and suicide method.
Three studies have examined relationships between self-harm behavior and the Christmas holiday. In the first, Masterton12 examined a sample of over 22,000 women in the United Kingdom who were admitted to a psychiatric facility for self-harm behavior. He noted a decrease in such behavior during the eight weeks around the Christmas holiday. The more you drink, especially in a short period of time, the greater your risk of alcohol poisoning. This is when a male rapidly consumes five or more alcoholic drinks within two hours or a female consumes at least four drinks within two hours. The main bibliographic databases, including PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, were searched until February 2015.
Deliberate self-poisoning (DSP) using drugs is the preferred method of suicide at a global level. Its investigation is hampered by limited sample sizes and data reliability. We investigate the role of the US FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS), a consolidated pharmacovigilance database, in outlining DSP habits and toxidromes.
Who May Be at Risk?
Drug poisoning concerns mostly psychiatric patients and people addicted to drugs and alcohol (they resort to psychotropic drugs when withdrawal symptoms are intensified, or symptoms of acute alcohol intoxication appear) Heroin Treatment 12. Other psychoactive substances that are used for suicidal purposes are many over the counter (OTC) drugs, which contain substances that can affect consciousness, behavior, and feeling when consumed in large amounts. The most popular substances of this type are dextromethorphan (a synthetic analog of codeine), ephedrine, and pseudoephedrine 13. The NVDRS is the only US national data set available to examine BAC among suicide decedents. We did not examine other factors (e.g., alcohol use disorders, availability of alcohol) that might also influence associations between acute alcohol use and method of suicide.
The purpose of the present study was to analyze suicide attempts by intoxication, suicides as such, and substances influencing the state of consciousness of suicide victims in Poland in the years covered by the study. FAERS data provide a source to timely and cheaply monitor variations in DSP reporting. We found a seasonality with higher peaks of reporting in the winter and lower peaks in June, and major peaks in DSP reporting in 2007–2008 and 2019–2020. Studies supporting winter 40 and spring peaks 41, 42 exist, and major events, such as the global financial crisis in 2007–2008 and the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in 2019–2020, may indeed have precipitated cases of suicidal ideation 43. Nonetheless, whether trends in the reporting represent trends in events is highly debatable.
Suicide by alcohol overdose
The three most endorsed study themes were loneliness, anxiety, and helplessness. Peretti concluded that one of the most relevant factors in Christmas depressions is the individual’s belief in the myth that everyone else is having a good time and engaged in loving family relationships—clearly a wish, but not necessarily a fact. Women could be at greater risk because heavy drinking generally has more negative physical and cognitive consequences for women than men. For youth, perhaps the higher risk is due to the elevated rates of heavy and problematic drinking in young adults or that suicide is the second leading cause of death among 15 to 29-year-olds.
It may therefore allow a dose–lethality relationship in humans to be estimated. FAERS data may also be used to characterize drug-specific DSPs, including their toxidrome. According to research, more men die from alcohol-related death than women.
It is quite common that a drunk person drinks various poisonous liquids, in the belief that these are alcoholic drinks. This happens when poisonous liquids are stored in bottles with labels of vodkas, wines, or other alcoholic drinks. Additionally, a wrong combination of drugs, especially prescribed by several doctors, can cause a strong toxic effect that is dangerous to health and life 22. In order to explore the sources of heterogeneity, we performed meta-regression analysis considering mean age, gender (percent of men), adjusted/unadjusted effect estimates, and a high/low risk of bias as covariates (Table 2).
In a 2002 study from Finland, Poikolainen et al10 examined all deaths due to alcohol poisoning between the years 1983 and 1999. Among the 6,000-plus deaths, a peak death rate was observed during the Christmas celebration. Among people who die by suicide, alcoholism is the second-most common mental disorder, and is involved in roughly one in four deaths by suicide. As a psychologist and scientist, my research aims to understand whether alcohol actually increases the risk of dying by suicide. We can have high confidence based on the current evidence that AUD increases the risk of suicide.
Alcohol use and death by suicide: A meta-analysis of 33 studies
Drugs from the pain cluster showed an important role in fatal DSPs (oxycodone, 60.8% of fatalities), because of both their lethality and their potential for abuse, but plausibly also for resistant pain as a risk factor for committing suicide 49. Another drug with a high reported fatality was bupropion (CFR 34.6%), plausibly because it is more available to people with a higher determination towards suicide since it is approved to palliate suicidal ideation. Patients taking bupropion to commit suicide may therefore take higher doses, combine multiple drugs, or attempt suicide when and where it is more difficult for healthcare professionals to intervene. These results were in line with previous findings 10 that opioid and antidepressant overdoses are more lethal than overdoses with other pharmaceuticals, and point to the need for further preventative interventions targeting these drug classes. This meta-analysis measured the association between AUD and suicide.