4. Discussion
The results of this experimental study which aimed to find out the relationship between personality profiles and the first attempt at suicide via medicine poisoning among the patients hospitalized in a University hospital in Tabriz, Iran, show that the age range among suicide attempters was 18–30 which supports the report of the study conducted in Iran [6]. However, it is not in accordance with the results of the studies conducted in the Western societies where the emphasis is on the higher age range of suicide attempters [18, 20]. Bearing in mind that Iran is among the youngest societies in the world and Iranian youth face various social problems, it is not surprising that Iranian suicide attempters are mainly young people.
The findings of our study show that 79.7% of suicide attempters have at least one maladaptive personality disorder. In a similar vein, as the study performed by Cavanagh and colleagues showed that more than 90% of patients who died because of suicide suffered from psychological disorder [21], the inclusion and exclusion criteria used in the present study and the selection of participants from among those patients who attempted suicide by taking overdose drug for the first time account for the percentage incompatibility between this study and the previous ones. The patients with other problems who were not considered in the study might be another explanation for the aforementioned discrepancy [22].
According to the results, the suicide attempters’ mean scores were higher than nonattempters in all scales except for compulsive and narcissistic ones. It is in agreement with the study in which the majority of suicide attempters had maladaptive personality profiles [23]. Neuroticism is the first and the most influential factor in the personality profile [13].