Of 1206 patients treated during 1970-80 in a department of child psychiatry in a large city in Sweden, 24 (2%) had died by the end of 1981. 21 of these (88%) died of “injuries following external violence & poisoning”, of whom 15 (63%) were suicides. 20 subjects (83%) had grown up in surroundings characterised by 1 or more psychosocial stress factors. The study indicates a possible link between psychosocial background factors & deaths from “injuries following external violence & poisoning”.