4 Troubled Teens Blog

Prof Develps Process to Assess Suicide Risk

Dr. Herbert Hendin believes that measuring the intensity of a person's emotion can determine whether that person is at high risk of attempting suicide. Using a set of nine questions which are collectively called the Affective States Questionnaire, medical professionals can more accurately assess suicide risk, New York's Journal News reported:
"Hendin said his method can detect with greater accuracy than ever before the subtle indicators of suicidal behavior, with fewer false positives than other assessment tools. The tool was even more accurate when applied to patients who displayed risk factors such as substance abuse and poor functioning on the job or in relationships, Hendin said."
Hendin's study involved surveying 283 veterans who were both inpatients and outpatients at the Michael De Bakey VA Medical Center in Houston. He has found that patients on the verge of attempting suicide have a lower tolerance for intense emotions, yet average more than three times more intense emotional episodes than do non-suicidal patients.

Labels: suicide, research, emotional_issues, risky_behaviors

Posted By: Aspen/CRC