engleski

Toxicology and methods of committing suicide other than overdose

The objective was to examine the influence of toxicological features on the choice of methods of committing suicides other than overdose. The study included 80 death persons examined at the Rijeka Department of Forensic Medicine in a three-year period (2007-2009) with suicide other than overdose as a manner of death. The circumstances of each case were analyzed, and blood and urine samples taken at the autopsy underwent toxicological analyses, using gas chromatography for ethanol concentration and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry for other psychoactive substances. With most of the suicides, toxicological analysis revealed at least one psychoactive substance. The average blood alcohol concentration found in this study was 0.417 g/kg. The most frequently found illicit drugs were tetrahydrocannabinol, followed by psychostimulant drugs. The most frequent psychoactive medications found were benzodiazepines and antidepressants. Suicides in which the stimulation (excitation) of the central nervous system was found, more frequently choose more immediately fatal and drastic methods of committing suicide. Conclusion: Toxicological and forensic features of suicides are undoubtly related, and especially important is the influence of toxicological features on the choice of methods of committing suicide.

toxicology; suicide; methods of committing; overdose

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