Pay attention to this report: Toxicological Information Service. Report 2021. National Institute of Toxicology and Forensic Sciences. Madrid. Ministry of Justice, 2022. It collects the statistical data of the different queries received throughout 2021 about poisoning or exposure to toxic substances. There are worrying results related to the psychotropic drugs.
These consultations are answered by a team of twenty doctors through a telephone service available 24 hours a day. A novelty of this edition is the presentation of a more detailed study of the consultations caused by «autolytic voluntary poisoning” -that is to say, suicides-, which have led to a total of 5,411 consultations in 2021. This
reflects a very significant increase with respect to the cases registered in previous years”, they explain in the study.
Photo by RODNAE Productions.
The data indicate that suicide attempts occur at a very young age.
More than 20% occurred in the age group from 11-15 years and mostly in women, being the medicines the predominant substances in this type of voluntary poisonings (86,9%).
There is a very significant prevalence of drugs that affect the Central Nervous System (83.10%) and, among the latter, the use of anxiolytics (34.8%) and the antidepressants (32.5%), singly or in combination.
Without a doubt,
This is highly relevant data for the development of health policies. suicide prevention in our country and that coincide with the findings of other suicide prevention projects, such as the contributed by the project Survive«.
The work details the therapeutic groups with the highest incidence in this type of autolytic drug poisoning (anxiolytics, antidepressants, antiepileptics and analgesics). The anxiolyticsespecially those derived from benzodiazepinesare involved in 34.8% of consultations for voluntary poisoning by drugs of the nervous system.
And either as the sole cause of poisoning (in 51.3% of consultations) or associated with other pharmaceutical specialties belonging to different therapeutic groups, mainly antidepressants (13.6%), antipsychotics (5.3%), antiepileptics (5.1%) or analgesics-antipyretics (3.8%).
Antidepressants are present in 32.5% of registered autolytic consultations. In 48.3% of these visits, antidepressants were the only agent cause of poisoning.
In the rest of the cases, they are associated with anxiolytics (14.6%), antiepileptics (6.5%), antipsychotics (4.5%) or analgesics-antipyretics (2.6%).
In 20.6% of voluntary intoxications for autolytic purposes, nervous system medications belonging to the therapeutic group of antiepilepticsfrequently used for the removal of neuropathic pain.
In 46% of these consultations, the active ingredients involved belonged to this same group.
therapeutic, while 10.3% were associated with antidepressants, anxiolytics (8.7%) or antipsychotics (5.7%).
Less frequently we find non-opioid analgesics-antipyreticswhich cause 17% of the voluntary poisonings by medicines consulted.
Behind these figures are people who have taken their own lives. Very young as you can see. Something will have to be done to stop this bloodletting teenagers committing suicide. It is necessary to reflect on the influence of the pandemic and repressive management of the same (whose psychological-social pressure is prolonged with the war of Ukraine and the consequent economic recession).