This study assessed the 7-year outcomes of 137 patients who presented with suicidality. 45 of the patients were contingently suicidal, that is, they orginally presented with suicidal threats designed to gain hospital admission; 92 patients were noncontingently suicidal. Significant differences were found between the groups in overall mortality & serious suicide attempts. No suicides were identified in the contingently suicidal group but 10 suicides were confirmed or highly suspected among the noncontingently suicidal patients. These results argue for the evaluation of contingency in suicide risk assessments. (10 refs.)