Psychodynamic Approaches to the Assessment and Management of Suicide (IN: Suicide: Guidelines for Assessment, Management, and Treatment, edited by B Bongar)

This chapter discusses 5 components in the psychodynamic case formulation for patients when there is a question of suicide potential. Included: assessment of patient’s past responses to emotional stresses, particularly losses; vulnerability to 3 varieties of affect closely associated with morbid self-destructiveness; sustaining aspects of the patient’s object relations; emergence & emotional importance of death fantasies; & ego capacities in areas that may contribute to suicide vulnerability.