Chapter
Immediately After the Suicide Attempt: Evaluation and Brief Therapy on a Medical Ward (IN: Treatment Approaches With Suicidal Adolescents, edited by J K Zimmerman & G M Asnis)
Dulit E
This chapter describes the program of an Acute Medicine Service in an inner-city general hospital. Patient population ranges primarily from blue collar through poverty. Central to the initial evaluation is whether the adolescent can be treated as an outpatient or requires placement in a secure psychiatric inpatient service. Three clusters of prototypical symptom constellations used in assessment are discussed. Brief therapy approaches (what can be done in 3 to 7 days) are described. (6 Refs.)