American Psychiatric Association Practice Guidelines for the Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders 2004 ASSESSING AND TREATING SUICIDAL BEHAVIORS: A Quick Reference Guide > ASSESSING AND TREATING SUICIDAL BEHAVIORS: A Quick Reference Guide Sections: A. Assessment of Patients With Suicidal Behaviors, 1. Conduct a thorough psychiatric evaluation., 2. Specifically inquire about suicidal thoughts, plans, and behaviors., 3. Establish a multiaxial diagnosis., 4. Estimate suicide risk., B. Psychiatric Management, 1. Establish and maintain a therapeutic alliance. , 2. Attend to the patient's safety. , 3. Determine a treatment setting., 4. Develop a plan of treatment., 5. Coordinate care and collaborate with other clinicians., 6. Promote adherence to the treatment plan., 7. Provide education to the patient and family., 8. Reassess safety and suicide risk., 9. Monitor psychiatric status and response to treatment., 10. Obtain consultation, if indicated., C. Specific Treatment Modalities, 1. Somatic Therapies, 2. Psychotherapies, D. Documentation and Risk Management, 1. General Issues Specific to Suicide, 2. Suicide Prevention Contracts, 3. Communication With Significant Others, 4. Management of Suicide in One's Practice, 5. Mental Health Interventions for Surviving Family and Friends After a Suicide. Topics Discussed: anti-anxiety agents; anticonvulsants; antidepressive agents; antipsychotic agents; benzodiazepines; clozapine; electroconvulsive therapy; feeling suicidal; lithium; psychotherapy; suicidal behavior; suicide; suicide risk assessment. Excerpt: "Based on Practice Guideline for the Assessment and Treatment of Patients With Suicidal Behaviors, originally published in November 2003. A guideline watch, summarizing significant developments in the scientific literature since publication of this guideline, may be available.Refer to Table 1 for circumstances in which suicide assessment may be indicated...." DOI: 10.1176/appi.books.9780890423370.111619 The content above is only an excerpt. For full access subscribe now or log into your account below. You can also purchase 24- or 48-hour access; learn more Username: Password:   FORGOT your subscriber username and/or password? Get a reminder via email: The email I registered with is:  Not a subscriber? Subscribe Today PsychiatryOnline is a powerful website that features DSM-IV-TR® and The American Journal of Psychiatry as the cornerstones of an unsurpassed collection of psychiatric references, including books, journals, and self-assessment tools. PsychiatryOnline’s innovative platform makes these resources easy and convenient to use, offering Precise and powerful searching across books and journals. Quick pathways to related material. Mobile access from any computer with a Web connection. Ability to download any book section to PDA. Links from bibliographic references to the full text of journal articles. References to material not located in the PsychiatryOnline collection lead you to PubMed. Learn more about PsychiatryOnline Need more help? PsychiatryOnline Customer Service may be reached by emailing PsychiatryOnline@psych.org or by calling 800-368-5777 (in the U.S.) or 703-907-7322 (outside the U.S.).