The Dilemma

Suicide is the ninth leading cause of death in the United States. It is more common than most physicians, psychologists and mental health providers realize. And there is growing consensus among medical review boards, licensing agencies, insurance providers, litigators and juries that it is the doctors (physicians, psychologists, mental health professionals and counselors, etc) and other caregivers responsibility to assess (screen or evaluate) clinically depressed or emotionally disturbed patients suicide risk. In other words it is the caregiver’s responsibility to incorporate adequate suicide risk screening when treating or counseling depressed and/or emotionally disturbed individuals.

A patient’s suicide has profound emotional impact on the patient’s family, friends and caregivers. And suicide-related malpractice lawsuits are a growing reality. Suicide-related journals and research emphasizes the importance of screening at-risk patients to prevent their suicide. Shockingly, a large number of suicidal patients saw their doctor (physician, counselor, and caregiver) a few days or weeks prior to their suicide (Soreff, 2011). Professional accountability connotes that high risk (depressed or emotionally disturbed) patients are to be screened for suicide. Aside from patient care, an everpresent reason for such screenings is to deter professional and legal problems.

Suicide Evaluation

A comprehensive suicide evaluation can take up to 4 or 5 hours and requires a trained suicide evaluator. Their time and training can become obstacles. The Suicide Evaluation (SE) was developed to help meet this need. When no one symptom by itself is a good suicide predictor, accurate identification is enhanced when several symptoms or predictors are combined. And to a large extent that is what the Suicide Evaluation (SE) does. The Suicide Evaluation (SE) is a 142-item self report suicide screening test that takes 25 to 30 minutes to complete. To review an SE report click on the Example Report link, and for more Suicide Evaluation information click on the Suicide Evaluation link.

The Suicide Evaluation (SE) can be administered two ways: 1. On Behavior Data Systems (BDS) diskettes or USB flash drives (www.bdsltd.com), or 2. over the internet (www.online-testing.com). Both options allow paper-pencil testing.