[Description of sociodemographic and psychiatric data of 295 patients following attempted suicide by poisoning--inpatient treatment within the scope of a psychiatric liaison service at an internal medicine clinic of a large municipal hospital].

295 attempted suicides with intoxication are described by sociodemographic, biographic, and psychiatric characteristics. The patients were hospitalized for detoxification, and after clearing up interviewed by a psychiatrist working in the hospital as a liaison-psychiatrist. The patients did not differ essentially from patients treated in the emergency unit of another general hospital of the city in terms of basic social data. The patients--65% women, 35% men--are young (up to 40 years), 39% had already attempted suicide before the index-time. 41% came from "broken homes", 40% had one or more psychiatric disease(s) in their families. 56% were diagnosed as "psychiatrically ill", second diagnosis was in 33.5% abuse of alcohol/drugs. The referal offer to the patients for the time after discharge from emergency unit is described in detail. Just 12% of the patients were treated in a psychiatric hospital, after-care in an ambulatory setting seemed to be sufficient for most of the other patients. 20% were not offered any after-care. Patients with addiction and psychosis were sent to institutions specialized for these diagnoses.