The Potentially Suicidal Patient

Abstract

Clinicians in all specialties must be aware that suicide is the ninth leading cause of death in the United States. The history, mental status examination, and diagnosis are crucial in the evaluation of all patients with emotional problems. When you take the history, do not hesitate to ask the patient whether he is contemplating suicide. Most patients will reply honestly to this question, and enable you to estimate roughly the seriousness of the suicide risk. However, this question alone is never sufficient, and a number of historical, mental status, and diagnostic variables have to be taken into account. These variables must be viewed together; none is by itself an absolute indicator of suicide risk.