Suicide and depression

Suicide is difficult to predict, has the potential for catastrophic outcome, and is preventable. Although some persons admit freely to feelings of sadness and wishes for their lives to be over, others offer little, if any, overt forecasting of impending self-harm. Many of these same people seek help under other auspices. Approximately two thirds of those who commit suicide had visited a physician during the preceding month. Recognizing the signs and symptoms with which suicide-prone patients present to emergency departments is central to preventing unnecessary death, injury, and disability caused by failed attempts. The common presentations of patients at risk for suicide and some of the psychiatric conditions that carry a risk for suicide are reviewed.