ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses how to conduct a proper risk assessment and decides the next step in management. The risk assessment, then, involves assessing for both suicidality and homicidality. When a patient comes in to the emergency department for an evaluation, a risk assessment is a vital part of the clinician's job. The chapter investigates the history of present illness (HPI), which covers the patient's current clinical presentation. It reviews the elements of past psychiatric history, and then other elements of the patient's life that should be reviewed when assessing risk level. Another very important aspect of risk assessment is thoroughly assessing the patient for suicidality and self-injurious behavior. The chapter also discusses the salient aspects of a patient's psychiatric history that are important to ask when screening for risk. In order to get a more precise idea of both the patient's current presentation and past history, collateral information can be very helpful.
