Lifelines

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiv

   PDF

2. Introduction: The Extent of the Problem

   1. Introduction: The Extent of the Problem

      • Ellen L. Bassuk, Andrew D. Gill, Stephen C. Schoonover

      Pages 1-3

3. Assessment Issues

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 5-5

      PDF

   2. Vulnerability to Suicide

      • Andrew D. Gill

      Pages 7-16

   3. General Principles of Assessment

      • Ellen L. Bassuk

      Pages 17-46

4. Therapeutic Approaches 1: Methods for Immediate Containment

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 47-47

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   2. Crisis Therapies

      • Stephen C. Schoonover

      Pages 49-57

   3. Pharmacotherapy of the Suicidal Patient

      • Stephen C. Schoonover

      Pages 59-68

5. Therapeutic Approaches 2: Issues in Psychotherapy

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 69-69

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   2. Outpatient Therapies for Suicidal Patients

      • Andrew D. Gill

      Pages 71-82

   3. The Moment of Truth: Psychotherapy with the Suicidal Patient

      • Alvin Kahn

      Pages 83-92

   4. The Stress of Therapy

      • Alvin Kahn

      Pages 93-100

6. Setting and Staffing Issues

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 101-101

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   2. Care of the Suicidal Patient in the Emergency Setting

      • Ellen L. Bassuk

      Pages 103-114

   3. Care, Containment, and Countertransference: Managing the Suicidal Patient in Medical Settings

      • Daniel Silverman

      Pages 115-136

   4. Intensive Care for Suicidal Patients

      • Stephen C. Schoonover

      Pages 137-153

   5. Nursing Issues

      • Kathy Horvath

      Pages 155-167

   6. The Role of the Social Worker

      • Helene Kress

      Pages 169-179

   7. Suicidal Patients and the Therapist-in- Training

      • Ronnie Fuchs

      Pages 181-192

7. Childhood and Adolescent Suicide

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 193-193

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Suicide is a source of endless disquiet. One of the few fatal consequences of psychiatric illness, it is a threat to patients, and a vexation to therapists that puts clinical judgment to the ultimate test. It arouses countertransference reactions of unusual intensity-helplessness and guilt when the suicide is successful; anxiety and anger when it is used as a manipulative tool. For as Samuel Johnson was aware when he com­ mented that many "commit suicide, as a passionate man will stab an­ other," it is not only an escape from hopeless despair but an expression of the most violent rage. To all those who care for suicidal patients, this book will come as a welcome guide. Each of the authors represented here brings a wealth of clinical expe­ rience to bear on the subject under discussion. The psychological and bi­ ological determinants of depression are simply and clearly delineated to provide a basis for understanding the processes underlying suicide, for judging its likelihood, and for preventing its occurrence. Detailed de­ scriptions of the variety of psychological and pharmacological treatments of the suicidal patient are complemented by extensive discussions of the several settings in which such patients will be encountered, whether these be an in-patient unit, an out-patient clinic, a medical ward, an emergency room, or a private office.

• anxiety
• care
• clinic
• depression
• emergency
• fat
• patients
• pharmacology
• suicide
• treatment

• Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA

  Ellen L. Bassuk, Stephen C. Schoonover, Andrew D. Gill

• Beth Israel Hospital, Boston, USA

  Ellen L. Bassuk, Stephen C. Schoonover, Andrew D. Gill

Policies and ethics