Researching the Inner World of the Parasuicide; an Evaluation of a Pilot Study Using the Suicide Fantasy Scale

This paper reports the early stages of a project exploring whether internal psychodynamic factors differentiate young people at risk of suicide. A new instrument, the ‘Suicide Fantasy Scale’ (SFS), based on current psychoanalytic thinking, is discussed. A pilot study using this scale is reported, demonstrating results that suggest the SFS has the capacity to distinguish between low & high levels of suicide risk. Implications of these findings are discussed. (11 refs)