It is known now that talk of suicide is not idle talk, as has been accepted too often in the past. A high proportion of suicides have consulted a doctor during the psychiatric illness, often with quite overt signs & symptoms actually “begging” for a diagnosis! The depressed person, the chronic alcoholic who has had a personal loss, are suicidal risks. Every physician who acts as a family doctor or personal physician should plant items from this paper firmly in mind.