Suicide (Lauren🌭) Flashcards
(34 cards)
Are these all the same thing:
Suicidal Ideation
Suicidal Plan
Suicidal intent
Suicide Attempt
Completed Suicide
No
Suicidal ideation- thinking about suicide. Can range from fleeting thoughts to a detailed plan
Suicidal plan- developing an action plan, getting rid of things, changing your will, etc
Suicidal intent- intention to ACT on the above plan
Suicide attempt- follows through with plan to injure themselves in a way that causes death. Seriousness varies: taking 3 sleeping pills vs gunshot wound
Completed suicide- death by one’s own intended action
Why should we not say someone “Commited suicide?”
It implies criminality.
We should say “death by suicide” or “completed suicide” instead
Who attempts suicide more often, vs who is more likely to die from suicide: men or women
Women attempt more often
Men are more likely to die from suicide
What groups of people have higher rates of suicide?
Native Americans
Alaskan Natives
White people
Veterans
Sexual minority youth
Survivors** (of school shootings, mass trauma, etc)
What is the BIGGEST risk factor for suicide?
PREVIOUS SUICIDE ATTEMPT
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This will be on the test
What kinds of psychiatric illnesses can increase someone risk for suicide?
Previous suicide attempt
Mood disorder (depressed, bipolar)
Psychotic disorder
Substance use disorder
PTSD
ADHD
TBI
Cluster B personality disorder/traits
Conduct problem
What is anhedonia?
No interest/enjoyment in anything
What are “command hallucinations”
Auditory hallucinations (“voices”) telling the patient to harm themselves
Does family history increase risk of suicide?
Yes.
FH of attempted/completed suicide or psychiatric hospitalization would indicate a certain severity of illness in the family
What kind of life stressors can increase the risk of suicide?
Event causing hulmiliation, shame, despair (job loss, bankruptcy, etc)
Chronic pain or acute medical problem
Sexual or physical abuse
Substance intoxication or withdrawal
Pending incarceration or homelessness
Legal problem
Inadequate social support, isolation
Perceived burden on others
What kind of changes in someone’s psychiatric treatment can increase their risk of suicide?
RECENT PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITALIZATION
Change in provider
Change in treatment 💊
Hopelessness or dissatisfaction with treatment
Lack of compliance or no treatment at all
After someone has had a psychiatric hospitalization, when are they at the highest risk of suicide, and what should you do about it?
Highest risk in first 3 days of leaving a psych hospital.
Get a follow up appointment within 3 days of dischatge
What are the WARNING SIGNS that someone may be thinking about suicide?
Feeling like a burden
Being isolated🕴
Increased anxiety
Feeling trapped or in unbearable pain
Increased substance use💉
Looking for a way to access lethal means👀
Increased anger or rage🗣
Extreme mood swings🧟♂️
Expressing hopelessness 🤦♀️
Sleeping too little or too much🛌
Talking or posting about wanting to die💻
Making plans for suicide 📅
What is akathisia?
Restlessness, marching in place, restless legs
Why does alcohol intoxication increase suicide risk?
Makes you more likely to do things you wouldn’t normally do
What are some Observable HIGH risk things that increase someone’s risk of susicide?
Agitation
Anxiety
Psychomotor activity
Emotional lability (mood swings)
Global insomnia
Appetite disturbance
High level distress
Desperation
Akathisia
Alcohol intoxication
What are some Observable LOW risk factors (not ~protective~ against suicide, these are still risk factors, just lower)
Somnolent, sleeping
Calm
Hungry, eating
Self-directed actions (“I want…”)
Future directed actions (talking about things in the future)
Manipulative (“If you don’t….I will kill myself”)
What are some PROTECTIVE factors that actually protect against suicide?
Children at home
Sense of responsibility to family or pets
Pregnancy
Religious
Life satisfaction
Positive social support
Effective clinical care
Easy access to interventions/support
Support form ongoing providers
Skills in problem solving
If someone has protective factors, can we be sure they will never consider suicide?>
No, they can not always counteract an acute suicide risk
What’s is SAFE-T?
Its an app that gives you a 5 step way to evaluate someone’s suicide risk and triage them
When do you need to assess someone’s suicide risk?
Emergency department or crisis evaluation
Initial patient evaluation (with a psychiatric complaint)
Abrupt change in clinical presentation
Worsening/lack of improvement despite treatment
Significant loss or Social stressor (death in family, job loss)
New illness, especially if life threatening, disfiguring, or with severe pain
Routinely in the treatment of psychiatric illness, in ANY setting (inpatient or outpatient)
In some hospitals and PCPs, it is done routinely on everyone
Will asking a patient about suicide put the idea in their heads?
No you should not be afraid to ask
How should you ask about suicide in a psychotic patient?
“Do the voices ever tell you to do specific things? Do you obey them? Why are you compelled to obey them?”
“Do they ever try to get you to hurt or kill yourself?”
When you are assessing someone’s suicide risk, is it OK to get the bare minimum of info from them?
GET AS MUCH INFO AS POSSIBLE
(Idk she put that in capital letters and big font)
Specify suicidal ideation, plan and intent
OLD CARTS (onset, duration, aggravating, alleviating factors etc)
Ask them about steps taken toward enacting plans
Determine the patients belief about the lethality of the method
Determine if they have the means (gun, supply of meds etc)
Conditions under which the patient would act
