Hospitals & Hospitalization
A huge fear of many people who think about suicide is that they will go to a therapist who panics at the mention of the word “suicide.” Some therapists do, in fact, panic. This can take several forms. A panicky therapist may all too quickly recommend psychiatric hospitalization, even when it is not really necessary. […]
There are many characteristics that place a person at higher risk for suicide – depression, substance use, a prior suicide attempt, as examples. It is important for clinicians to know that an especially dangerous characteristic, one that exponentially increases the chances of suicide, is recent discharge from a psychiatric hospital. I am at the Aeschi West […]
You are listening to a client describe very specific plans to attempt suicide by overdosing. She has 94 pills of a potentially lethal medication at home. She knows the number because she has counted, again and again, in a sort of ritual to prepare herself for the act. A familiar unease settles in you. You ask […]
You may be considering suicide and yet not want to tell a therapist, because you fear landing in a mental hospital. If you go to a therapist or psychiatrist and tell them you are seriously thinking of killing yourself, that does not necessarily mean you will be hospitalized – even if you want to be […]
