Suicide with intravenous kerosene: A case report in Bangladesh

<p>S M Yasir Arafat</p>

Suicide with intravenous kerosene: A case report in Bangladesh

S M Yasir Arafat

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Bangladesh

: Int J Ment Health Psychiatry

Abstract

The mode and method of suicide varies due to multiple factors such as culture, religion, gender, belief, occupation, educational status, age and others. It usually depends on availability, victim’s knowledge on lethality and cultural influences. Here we report an adult Bangladeshi female medical graduate attempted suicide by infusing 10 cc kerosene, which is very uncommon in any cultural background in the world. A 30-year-old female, unmarried, medical graduate, admitted into the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with the history of taking 10 cc kerosene intravenously. She also ingested Midazolam 7.5 mg 50 tablets and Amitriptyline 25 mg about 80-100 tablets at a time. She was suffering from depression for the last 6 years and she consulted psychiatrists and psychotherapists multiple times but irregularly. She also used to take the anti-depressants irregularly. She was a very good achiever across her academic life but she had few friends and pre-morbidly she was anxious. She was having an affair relationship with a boy for last 16 years. Before the day of attempted she came to know that her boyfriend had got married. Being a medical graduate with a good functional status in a city choosing intravenous kerosene is quite unexplainable. However, prolong under treated depression, recent life stressors can play vital role to take the fatal decision.