E-Book Overview
Suicide risk assessment is a core competency that mental health professionals are expected to acquire during their training, yet the reality of potential suicides can prove daunting for busy practitioners faced with an overload of information on the subject. This book meets that challenge head-on by providing clinically useful information for anyone encountering patients at risk for suicide. The American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook of Suicide Assessment and Management calls on the authority of 40 expert contributors—including members of the APA's Workgroup on Suicidal Behaviors, who developed the APA Practice Guideline for the Assessment and Treatment of Patients With Suicidal Behaviors—reflecting a wide range of clinical and forensic experience. The authors provide informative cases accompanied by analysis that integrates clinical findings with textual discussion, along with chapter-end "key points," in order to help practitioners understand demographic, gender, and cultural variables in suicide risk use psychological tests and scales in assessment assess risk in special populations, such as children and adolescents and the elderly, and jail and prison inmates determine treatment options: psychopharmacological/ECT, psychodynamic, and collaborative (or "split") treatment manage suicide risk in the context of major mental disorders (depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety, personality disorders, and substance-related disorders), with specific guidelines for risk assessment address suicide risk in outpatient, emergency, and inpatient and partial hospitalization settings, patient safety versus freedom of movement, and strategies for increasing the safety factor in various aspects of practice In addition to addressing the many facets of patient care—including cautioning against a suicide risk factor created by limitations of benefits in managed-care situations—the book also discusses clinician care: how practitioners can cope with the anxiety and fatigue arising from treating suicidal patients, the professional's role following a patient's suicide, legal issues involving standard of care and liability, and risk management guidelines for avoiding malpractice litigation. Suicide risk exists along an ever-changing continuum. This book underscores that risk assessment is a process, not an event. It clearly shows how sound assessment can lead to more effective management of patients at high risk for suicide.
E-Book Content
The American Psychiatric Publishing
Textbook of Suicide Assessment and Management
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The American Psychiatric Publishing
Textbook of Suicide Assessment and Management Edited by
Robert I. Simon, M.D. Robert E. Hales, M.D., M.B.A.
Washington, DC London, England
Note: The authors have worked to ensure that all information in this book is accurate at the time of publication and consistent with general psychiatric and medical standards, and that information concerning drug dosages, schedules, and routes of administration is accurate at the time of publication and consistent with standards set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the general medical community. As medical research and practice continue to advance, however, therapeutic standards may change. Moreover, specific situations may require a specific therapeutic response not included in this book. For these reasons and because human and mechanical errors sometimes occur, we recommend that readers follow the advice of physicians directly involved in their care or the care of a member of their family. Books published by American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc., represent the views and opinions of the individual authors and do not necessarily represent the policies and opinions of APPI or the American Psychiatric Association. If you would like to buy between