Jun 2, 2026 · 1 hr 4 min · 13 segments
Suicide risk assessment is often taught like a checklist, but this episode argues that the real work is formulation. We talk about why history is only the starting point, how acute and chronic risk…
Eric FuHost
Gregory MalbergHost
And, um, I think at the outset we should say that you cannot learn suicide assessment, uh, from one person, and you cannot learn it from one podcast, especially one episode.
So we're not here to teach you psychiatry or the assessment of suicide risk so much as we're going to point you, I suppose, to a starting point and, uh, kinda globally discuss some issues.
And the reason why we're doing this is because of a lovely email from a psychiatrist, uh, Eric, uh, not me, different person, uh, who says, "Would love an episode about a practical guide to suicidality, particularly when it presents in the ED.
Um, I think so many educators tend to hedge on this topic, which leads to learners receiving mixed messages." Let's see if we can clear things up a little bit today.
And just to start, maybe I'll, I'll talk about some of my grievances with the, the suicide risk assessment.
I mean, basically how hospital systems work is they hand down these, these tools, and then the tools are-
... extremely burdensome to use, and you have to ask questions so that you can't do your own interview, and then you mindlessly fill out the tool and don't even think about what the tool even represents.
So our suicide risk assessment, which was required for every single patient, was just clicking every single box as quickly as possible and then typing, saying, "The protective factors are that they're seeking care, that, uh, they're-"
Uh, given all these risk factors," b- and then you would just say what you wanted to do.
And, um, I think at the outset we should say that you cannot learn suicide assessment, uh, from one person, and you cannot learn it from one podcast, especially one episode.
So we're not here to teach you psychiatry or the assessment of suicide risk so much as we're going to point you, I suppose, to a starting point and, uh, kinda globally discuss some issues.
And the reason why we're doing this is because of a lovely email from a psychiatrist, uh, Eric, uh, not me, different person, uh, who says, "Would love an episode about a practical guide to suicidality, particularly when it presents in the ED.
Um, I think so many educators tend to hedge on this topic, which leads to learners receiving mixed messages." Let's see if we can clear things up a little bit today.
And just to start, maybe I'll, I'll talk about some of my grievances with the, the suicide risk assessment.
I mean, basically how hospital systems work is they hand down these, these tools, and then the tools are-
... extremely burdensome to use, and you have to ask questions so that you can't do your own interview, and then you mindlessly fill out the tool and don't even think about what the tool even represents.
So our suicide risk assessment, which was required for every single patient, was just clicking every single box as quickly as possible and then typing, saying, "The protective factors are that they're seeking care, that, uh, they're-"
Uh, given all these risk factors," b- and then you would just say what you wanted to do.
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