Toxicological Findings of Self-Poisoning Suicidal Deaths: A Systematic Review by Countries PMC

If you struggle with other mental health disorders, alcoholism can worsen depression and suicide ideation. The more we talk about it, the more we can create space for support, healing, and recovery. Suicide is the act of deliberate taking one’s own life, whereas a suicide attempt is any non-fatal suicide behavior that might john joseph kelly amy carter have been displayed with or without an intent to take one’s own life [5]. This cross-sectional study found that demographic and geographic patterns varied by cause of death, suggesting that these causes of death were not concentrated in 1 group or region and tailored interventions to each cause are urgently needed.

A systematic literature search was conducted by two authors (G.M. and G.D.A.) independently for studies published between January 2000 and May 2022. There is so much concern about Canadians’ drinking that some policymakers are advocating for warning labels on alcohol bottles like those on cigarette packages. In fact, we are so concerned about excessive drinking that we implement initiatives like Dry January where we challenge ourselves not to drink alcohol for a month.

Trends Over Time

Symptoms of alcohol overdose include mental confusion, difficulty remaining conscious, vomiting, seizures, trouble breathing, slow heart rate, clammy skin, dulled responses (such as no gag reflex, which prevents choking), and extremely low body temperature. Official statistics on suicides in 2016observed a decrease in the prevalence of self-poisoning for both males and females and a higher proportion of females using this suicide method (36.2% of females versus 18.3% of males). The researchers say these findings suggest that alcohol use may have been a core driver in the accelerated increase in suicide among U.S. women. Although more research is needed to elucidate the link between alcohol use and suicide, the findings point to a need for more education and awareness of this relationship, as well as improved screening and intervention strategies. In our research, it was found that a higher frequency and quantity of alcohol consumed plays a major role in death by suicide. The more heavily and habitually one drinks, the more vulnerable they are to these risks.

Table 1

Over three-quarters of Canadians drink alcohol, so either you drink or know someone who does. As Canadians weigh the pros and cons of adopting the new drinking guidelines, they should be thinking not just about the risks to their physical health, but also to their mental health. Public policies should be looking to increase awareness of the link between alcohol and suicide and to assess and treat problematic alcohol use as a way to prevent suicide.

Who May Be at Risk?

When someone’s at risk for suicide, they may feel like they don’t belong. They may think they’re a burden to others and begin to develop a higher pain tolerance and fear of suicide. Conceptualization—A.S.; validation—A.S.; formal analysis—A.S.; resources—A.S., writing—original draft preparation—A.S., A.K. Unlike food, which can take hours to digest, the body absorbs alcohol quickly — long before most other nutrients. Sign up for free and stay up to date on research advancements, health tips, current health topics, and expertise on managing health.

1. The total number of suicides of all causes was 106,169 in the 21-year study period.
2. However, toxicological forensic diagnosis is extremely varied, with significant differences in laboratory capacities and technical developments across countries [9,10].
3. A detailed flow chart of the selection process is provided in Figure 1.
4. Subsequently, a full-text evaluation of the selected studies was carried out.
5. There are several neurobiological and psychological theories proposed to explain the relationship between alcohol use and suicide.

Alcohol poisoning also can occur when adults or children accidentally or intentionally drink household products that contain alcohol. BAC can continue to rise even when a person stops drinking or is unconscious. Alcohol in the stomach and intestine continues to enter the bloodstream and circulate throughout the body. Celebrating at parties, cheering a favorite sports team, and enjoying get-togethers after work are common ways to relax or be with friends. For some people, these occasions may also include drinking—even binge or high-intensity demi lavato age drinking. The gender and age distribution of subjects is also heterogeneous, although not all studies have highlighted these aspects [41].

The most common method of suicide in Poland is hanging, especially among men. Women tend to overdose on medications to commit suicide [6,7,8,9,10,11]. Self-poisoning suicide attempts are not uncommon in medical practice; in fact, self-poisoning is one of the most frequently used methods for suicide attempts. Typically, it involves an intentional overdose how to flush alcohol out of your system in 24 hours of various substances.

A study conducted between 2007 and 2009 by Frost et al. [34] in Norway estimated that toxicological investigations were performed in 361 of 365 autopsies. The collected matrices, blood, and urine were analyzed by GC, LC–MS and revealed the presence of benzodiazepines, alcohol, opioids, and psychoactive drugs. Socio-cultural background and legislation influence rates and methods of suicide.

The aim of this publication was to juxtapose the data from two sources to compare the discrepancies between them. To date, there have been few articles addressing suicide poisoning, and not a single paper has been written that analyzes suicide poisoning statistics over the past 21 years with two data sources. Additionally, in the case of suicide poisoning, knowing what substances are used in suicide attempts may be helpful in limiting access to these substances.

Toxicological examinations of organs, blood, urine, and gastric contents reported medical drugs in 15.71% of the cases (22 cases, 11 hypnotics, antipsychotics, and 6 antiarrhythmic drugs). The researchers found that during the study period, the proportion of suicides involving a BAC greater than or equal to 0.08 g/dL significantly increased each year for women of all age groups. In contrast, only middle-aged men had a significant yearly increase in alcohol-involved suicides. The new research examined the increase in suicide mortality among women in the context of data showing an increase in heavy alcohol use over time.

The use of illicit and non-illicit substances is widespread in suicides. The toxicological data may help in understanding the mechanism of death. This systematic review aimed to analyze autopsies related to suicides by consuming poison, focusing on the correlation between substance use and the country of origin to create an alarm bell to indicate that suicide maybe attempted and prevent it. The systematic review was conducted according to the PRISMA guidelines, with the primary objective of identifying autopsies conducted in cases of suicide by consuming poison in specific geographic areas.

This fact was not caused by the actual growth of the suicide rate in Poland but because of the implementation of changes to the GPHP reporting system. It received the wording “KSIP-10 report on suicide attempt/behavior” and the scope of the collected data was extended. It is necessary to analyze suicide statistics in Poland very carefully [23]. The analysis does not include the ICD-10 code X84 “Intentional self-harm by unspecified means”, which could involve poisoning suicide attempts.

If you need suicide- or mental health-related crisis support, or are worried about someone else, please call or text the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or chat with Lifeline to connect with a trained crisis counselor. This cross-sectional study used publicly available data; therefore, institutional review board approval and informed consent were not needed, per National Cancer Institute policy. Age, sex, race/ethnicity, county-level percentage of unemployment, rurality, and geography. But the amount of alcohol in one drink may be much higher than those in the list above. For example, some craft beers may have four times the amount of alcohol that’s in a regular beer. Be aware of the alcohol content of what you’re drinking and adjust how much you drink based on this knowledge.

All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. The WHO stated that self-poisoning using pesticides is one of the leading causes of suicide worldwide. Regulation and adequate legislation may considerably prevent this phenomenon. Initially, articles were selected on the basis of title and abstract. Subsequently, a full-text evaluation of the selected studies was carried out.

Poisoning is a relevant public health issue responsible for a considerable number of cases of morbidity and mortality worldwide, especially in low- and middle-income countries [1]. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2000, unintentional poisoning led to around 350,000 deaths [2]. Meanwhile, around 250,000 deaths resulted from intentional ingestion [3]. One report found that in 2012,about 1,930,000 people died worldwide from unintentional poisoning, of which 84% died in low- and middle-income countries [4]. A2019 WHO report indicates a worldwide decrease in the global age-standardized suicide rate [5,6]. We conducted the most comprehensive meta-analysis on the link between alcohol (ab)use and death by suicide to date.