Screening Suicide Risk
John Tyler came across, and drew to your editor’s attention, a useful
Website providing six questions that can be asked of a loved one to
help screen for suicide risk:
The first five questions are about a person’s feelings over the past
month. These questions can be asked of people ages eight and older.
They need to be included within an empathic conversation indicating
concern for the person, and asked in a nonalarming, matter-of-fact
manner.
1. Have you wished you were dead or wished you could go to sleep
and not wake up?
2. Have you actually had any thoughts about killing yourself? If the
loved one answers “yes” to question 2, ask questions 3, 4, 5 and 6. If
the person answers “no” to question 2, go directly to question 6.
3. Have you thought about how you might do this?
4. Have you had any intention of acting on these thoughts of killing
yourself, as opposed to you have the thoughts but you definitely
would not act on them?
5. Have you started to work out or worked out the details of how to
kill yourself? Do you intend to carry out this plan?
6. Always ask question 6: In the past three months, have you done
anything, started to do anything, or prepared to do anything to end
your life?
Examples you could be mention would be: Have you collected pills;
obtained a gun; given away valuables; written a will or suicide note;
held a gun but changed your mind; cut yourself; tried to hang yourself.
For more information, please see the full Website: http://
theconversation.com/6-questions-you-can-ask-a-loved-one-to-help-
screen-for-suicide-risk-102026
Need help?
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Lifeline Australia
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1300 22 4636
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KidsHelpLine
April 2019