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Suicide Risk Assessment

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Psychiatry and the Law

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Abstract

Suicide is an unfortunate clinical outcome for many patients, and malpractice associated with suicide is the most common reason psychiatrists are sued. A crucial part of the psychiatric assessment is a systematic suicide risk assessment, and psychiatrists should carefully document the thought process involved with assigning risk to a patient. In this chapter, we provide a framework for assessing and documenting a suicide risk assessment based on the particular clinical setting. We also review empirical literature on risk and protective factors associated with suicide risk and discuss the legal implications involved with patient suicide.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Law and Psychiatry Division, Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, 34 Park Street, New Haven, CT, 06519, USA

    Ish P. Bhalla & Kevin V. Trueblood

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  1. Ish P. Bhalla
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  2. Kevin V. Trueblood
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Correspondence to Ish P. Bhalla .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Yale University School of Medicine, New haven, Connecticut, USA

    Tobias Wasser

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Bhalla, I.P., Trueblood, K.V. (2017). Suicide Risk Assessment. In: Wasser, T. (eds) Psychiatry and the Law. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63148-6_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63148-6_11

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-63147-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-63148-6

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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