[Suicides during treatment in a psychiatric hospital (author's transl)].

The article reports on a study of 22 suicides which occurred between 1972 and 1978 during inpatient treatment of patients of the Psychiatric Clinic of Hanover Medical College, partly within the premises of the clinic and partly without. The group of patients who committed suicide in the clinic itself is characterised on the basis of the individual social, personal and disease-relevant data and compared with the overall patient population of the clinic. It is found that there was an increase in the suicidal rate following a change in the organisational and therapeutical skeleton concept of the clinic, but the question whether there is a causal relationship must remain unsettled. It is also discussed whether a higher proportion of suicidal risk patients is being admitted to the clinic due to greater emphasis on the care for residents in nearby areas, patients who would otherwise not have been treated on an inpatient basis. Another problem which is considered worth discussing is whether and to what extent rehabilitation activities overtax the facilities and possibilities of some hospitals and to what extent the new - basically favourably rated - clinical concept for suicide-risk patients entails additional burdens which could be met by suitable suicide-preventive measures.