Heroin-Dependent Patients Attempting and not Attempting Suicide: a Comparison

A group of 108 young adults, ages 18-24, heroin-dependent Turkish patients were studied. 40 of these patients had histories of attempted suicide. There was a statistically significant difference in the age at which heroin use had commenced between female attempters & nonattempters. Both male & female attempters had significantly higher Addictive Severity Index scores than did nonattempters. A significant difference in total cholesterol levels between the group of violent & nonviolent attempters was revealed. Results suggest suicide attempts in young adult heroin-dependent patients were associated with more profound biopsychosocial pathology & decreased serum cholesterol levels. (45 refs)