The influence of antidepressants in overdose on the increased suicide rate in Ireland between 1971 and 1988.

There has been almost a threefold increase in the incidence of suicide in Ireland during the past 20 years. When each case occurring between 1971 and 1988 was reviewed, the major causes of death were found to be drowning and hanging. Deliberate overdoses with tricyclic antidepressants accounted for less than 4% of all suicides, over the 17 years studied, and during this time, overdose with tricyclics has made a proportionately smaller contribution to the total number of suicides. Greater attention should be paid to identifying and treating the majority of suicidal patients who are at risk by other methods.