Presents a study of 299 self-poisoning patients, 75 of whom had more than one suicide attempt during a 5 year period. The life situations of multi-attempters are explored with reference to background variables such as sex, marital status, and age. Issues often connected with suicide attempts such as abuse of alcohol, unemployment, and previous psychiatric care were also a focus of the study. Tables of results are included. 13 refs. (LH)