Suicide potential: evaluation by nonpsychiatrists.
Since most people who commit suicide visit a physician in the week to year preceding the act, the physician is in a unique position to intervene before it is too late. If the patient has already made an attempt or gesture, the physician must evaluate the risk of suicide by inquiring into the patient's situation and state of mind and the circumstances of the act. The most common types of psychopathology in those who make a suicide attempt or gesture are depression and borderline personality. To detect suicidal patients who have not yet made an attempt or gesture, the physician must be alert to subtle cues, particularly somatic complaints.
D006801:Humans; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000523:psychology; D000092864:Suicide Prevention