Attempted suicide in the armed forces: a retrospective study of Norwegian conscripts.

In the easily surveyable and rather homogeneous military population of the Norwegian Armed Forces, a group of 112 male suicide-attempting conscripts was studied retrospectively. Compared to a normal conscript population, suicide attempters more often had troublesome backgrounds, had experienced psychiatric problems and abuse, and had previously more often attempted suicide. Diagnostically adjustment disorders, alcohol and drug abuse, and personality disorders predominated, whereas major affective disorders and psychotic disorders were rare. Methods of self-destruction employed were mostly drug ingestion and laceration. Personality disordered subjects tended to have lower suicidal intent than others.