Dubrovnik: Sadržaji i aktivnosti (original) (raw)

Sense and sensitivity: on situated questioning about self-harm and suicidal inclination in the primary care consultation

The link between depression and suicide is, in modern medical knowledge, a ‘given’. The canons of contemporary psychiatry, without exception, specify that ‘suicidal ideation’ (like the physical acts of self-harm and actual suicide) is at once a symptom of the illness and, simultaneously, a ‘characteristic’ (if not inevitable) outcome (American Psychiatric Association, 1994; World Health Organization, 1994). National Health Service directives in the UK, meanwhile, specify that, in any primary care consultation where a patient either demonstrably has - or is suspected to have - a depression, it is incumbent upon a General Practitioner to assess any danger they may present to themselves (National Institute for Clinical Excellence, 2009; NHS Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, 2002). Guidelines recommend this be done through ‘direct questioning’ of the patient (National Institute for Clinical Excellence, 2007) regarding their thoughts or activities relating to self-harm or suicide. Gi...