Year: 2009 Source: Collegium Antropologicum, v.33, no.1, (2009), p.233-236 SIEC No: 20090914

This study examined the characteristics of 25 psychiatric inpatients who died by suicide in the Vrapce Psychiatric Hospital (Croatia) during the period 1996-2006. A typical profile was a middle-aged person, single, unemployed, repeatedly hospitalized, with schizophrenia, a history of suicide attempts, using a violent method after more than three weeks of hospital treatment. It is argued that treating suicide as a legal rather than a medical issue will result in the hospital atmosphere being totalitarian rather than therapeutic. The success of psychiatric treatment lies in the efficient balancing of both these perspectives. (22 refs.)