Suicide attempts by self-immolation--our experience.

Of 5934 patients admitted to our Burns' Unit at the Soroka University Hospital, Beer-Sheva, Israel between the years 1965 and 1986, 22 had attempted suicide by fire (0.37 per cent). Seventeen of them (77 per cent) died from their burns. The use of flammable liquids was the most common method of immolation. Fifty per cent of the victims were known to have previous mental disorders.