Diagnosis: Review and Comment (IN: Suicide in the Young, ed. by H S Sudak et al)

Critical factors in the prevention of suicide include accurate diagnosis of presenting symptoms & a thorough assessment of suicide potential. The authors stress the need for development of precise diagnostic indices to augment existing biological tests & structured interviews. The difficulty in assessing subintentional suicidal behavior is discussed in relation to the need for education of clinicians in this area.(NBB)