Analgesia during self-cutting

Clinical implications and the association with suicidal ideation

Matsumoto, Toshihiko MD, PhD
Imamura, Fumi MA
Chiba, Yasuhiko MD
Katsumata, Yotaro MA
Kitani, Masahiko MA
Takeshima, Tadashi MD, PhD

¹Center for Suicide Prevention, National Institute of Mental Health, ²Musashi Hospital, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Tokyo, ³Yokohama Juvenile Detention Center, Kanagawa, Japan

^*Correspondence: Toshihiko Matsumoto, MD, PhD, Center for Suicide Prevention, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, 4-1-1 Ogawa-Higashi, Kodaira, Tokyo 187-8553, Japan. Email: [email protected]

Received 5 September 2007; revised 21 January 2008; accepted 5 February 2008.

Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences 62(3):p 355-358, June 2008.

The present study examined the association of suicidal ideation in self-cutters with clinical features of self-cutting, using a sample of subjects from juvenile correctional institutions. Multivariate analysis revealed that male self-cutters and analgesia during self-cutting were significantly associated with a history of suicidal ideation. These results suggest that male analgesic self-cutters should be regarded as a high-risk subgroup for suicide.