Suicide and Self-Harm Screening Tools

Suicide refers to the act of intentionally taking one’s own life while self-harm is the act of intentionally injuring oneself. Although self-harm such as intentionally cutting oneself can be associated with suicidal ideation, it is also known to be an impulsive behavior used by many as a way of attempting to cope with emotional pain. The National Center for Injury Prevention and Control reported that in 2016, suicide was the 10th leading cause of death in the United States for all ages. In 2016, there were nearly 45,000 suicides in the United States, and 9.8 million adults reported having suicidal thoughts at some point during that same year. Suicide has been estimated to cost more than US$50 billion in combined medical and work loss. Self-harm ...