Sixty patients who had taken an overdose of drugs within the previous 24 hours completed the Attributional Style Questionnaire and the Profile of Mood States scale. Their scores were compared with two age-matched samples: 31 medical patients and 71 non-patient controls. Overdose patients had significantly higher stable and global attributions for negative events than controls, but were no different in attribution for positive events. They were also more disturbed in their mood, but their leve...