Semantic and Grammatical Characteristics of Verbal Behavior in Suicidal Crisis

Primary suicide prevention is based on recognition of “Cry for Help” communication & perception of a presuicidal syndrome. The authors believe that communications from suicidal persons are coded in particular grammatical & semantic structures. To test this hypothesis, the speech of clients using a crisis telephone service was analyzed according to 10 specific criteria. Two factors are separated by statistical analysis: non personal references, generalizations & distance; & suicidal ideations.