Suicidal Ideation Scales

What Is A Suicidal Ideation Scale?

Specific situations in life may affect how we think about life. The intensity of life difficulties or conditions may lead to thinking about suicide. Healthcare practitioners can use a tool to measure how likely a person would attempt to take their own life or to self-injure, in order to determine the necessary next steps for treatment and preventative care.

The is an instrument that helps mental health professionals measure a person’s suicidal thoughts. Suicidal Ideation has two types: Passive Suicidal Ideation and Active Suicidal Ideation. Passive Suicidal Ideation occurs when you think about committing suicide or wanting to die but have not done any actions to commit suicide. On the other hand, Active Suicidal Ideation occurs when a person actively plans how to commit suicide and attempts to commit suicide.

This tool can help mental health practitioners measure the person’s thoughts, attitudes, and intent to take their own life. This questionnaire is about the daily thoughts, emotions, and perceptions of a person’s life.

How To Use This Suicidal Ideation Scale Test

Suicide has been very prevalent in today’s generation. It is slowly surfacing after Mental Health Advocates have spread awareness. Day by day, people are dying because of suicide. This tool can provide the results of the risk of someone committing suicide. It helps mental health professionals recognize the signs of someone who is likely to commit suicide.

Here are the steps in using this Suicidal Ideation Scale Sample:

Download the PDF and instruct the patient.

Make sure that the file is accessible to the patient. Ensure that the patient is capable of answering the test and that they are in a calm and stable condition.

Read the questions thoroughly.

Advise the patient to read the questions with clear comprehension. Assist the patient if items need to be clarified. Monitor their progress with answering the sheet. Ensure they read it in an environment far from distractions and noise.

Encourage the patient to answer with honesty.

Before the patient answers each question, remind them to be very honest in providing their responses and assure them that the results will be stored appropriately with the utmost confidentiality. Keeping their trust and comfort in confiding their thoughts is essential.

Be sensitive.

As you monitor the patient answering the assessment, observe their reactions or behavior. Some questions may be too triggering for them. That is why it is important to ensure that they can take the test when administered. After they answer, store the questionnaire properly so their privacy is maintained.

When Would You Typically Use A Suicidal Ideation Scale?

Treating Suicide Ideation can be difficult as it needs to rehabilitate the person’s lifestyle with numerous medications and visits with their therapist. Assessing a person’s suicidal thoughts often requires medical assistance.

Here are the everyday events when a Suicidal Ideation Scale Test is necessary:

Psychologist Clinical Visit

It is infrequent for mental health patients to walk to a Therapist or Mental Health practitioner independently. So frequently, it is either by solid referral or accompanied by their support system. Psychologists may administer one after a consultation or two, given that they have noticed signs of Suicidal Ideation.

Research

Researchers may use a Suicidal Ideation Assessment to investigate their subjects. They would often conduct it in universities or depending on the demographics they wish to use as respondents.

Therapy or Treatment

Therapists may conduct another set of Suicidal Ideation Scales or Assessments to monitor the progress of the treatment. The test may be administered periodically or in regular sessions. Mental health practitioners may use this to see the efficacy of the prescribed medication to the patient with Suicidal Ideation.

Who Can Use these Printable Suicidal Ideation Scales?

Healthcare providers are keen to get more details into the thoughts of the patient with Suicidal Ideation. These Printable Suicidal Ideation Scales aid the following professionals but are not limited to:

• Psychologists
• Psychiatrists
• Psychotherapists
• Social Workers
• Researchers
• Counselors

When using the Suicidal Ideation Scale, it is recommended to be administered by a knowledgeable Mental Health Professional. This suicidal test will better identify tendencies and how likely someone is to attempt suicide in the future. Answers are considered confidential and should be analyzed with utmost care.

Although it is not strictly recommended to be administered by someone who knows medical practice, its reliability would still be best with a presence of a mental health practitioner.

Why Is This Assessment Popular With Psychologists?

A lot of possible factors contribute to Suicidal Ideation. Psychologists are experts in understanding human behavior and thoughts. Along with other mental health practitioners, psychologists are the best people who assist with treating patients with Suicidal Ideation.

This assessment is popular with them because of these three reasons:

• It helps them understand the gravity of the motivation to commit suicide. An honest response to the administered instrument would be beneficial for them to identify the approach and support to provide to the patient.
• It aids them in determining the triggering factors and planning how to avoid situations that might cause the patient to think about suicide.
• It provides a trend of data from their previous patients. It can be used for their dissertation or in identifying interventions to help in their patient’s treatment through the use of historical data or in instances of identical medical conditions.

Benefits Of Free Suicidal Ideation Scale

This Free Suicidal Ideation Scale builds the gap of the unknown. In extreme cases, patients would invalidate their feelings, especially when unaware of their condition. This goes the same for the environment or community that is yet known about Mental Health.

The following are the benefits that the Suicidal Ideation Test brings:

It raises awareness

For any medical condition, patients start to become careful or pay attention to their condition after being diagnosed. This clinical tool also brings the same benefits. Though this tool helps direct an accurate diagnosis of any mental health condition, it still reveals the mental state of an individual and the level of a tendency to commit suicide.

It strengthens support.

Awareness always creates a community. After the assessment results, the psychologist would advise the people around the patient to be mindful and sensitive of their actions and choice of words. Their awareness would help build a community supporting the patient’s therapy or treatment.

It creates a healthier lifestyle.

Psychologists would prescribe a healthier routine and lifestyle after finding out the results of the Suicidal Ideation Scale Assessment. It is an excellent opportunity for the patient to eliminate bad habits which lead to negative emotions, feelings, or thoughts. It also helps in the therapy and treatment process.

It prevents the prevalence of suicide.

The primary role of Suicidal Ideation is to detect an individual's thoughts about committing suicide. Its results would help the patient live differently and be saved from being a victim of suicide. Its primary purpose is to help patients avoid or control the thoughts of taking their own life.