Suicide attempts by jumping and psychotic illness

Background: Several recent studies have reported that serious violence towards self and others is more common in the first episode of psychosis than after treatment.Aim: To estimate the proportion of survivors of suicide attempts during psychotic illness by jumping from a height who had not previously received treatment with antipsychotic medication.Methods: An audit of the medical records of patients admitted to nine designated trauma centres in New South Wales, Australia, after surviving a jump of more than 3 m. Jumping was defined using routine hospital ascribed International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes. The height of the jump and all clinical data were extracted from case notes.Results: The files of 160 survivors of jumps of more than 3 m were examined, which included 70 who were diagnosed with a psychotic illness (44%). Thirty-one of the 70 diagnosed with a psychotic illness (44%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 32–56%) had never received treatment for psychosis and hence were in the first ep...