ABSTRACT
A suicide prevention strategy aiming to identify real risks of suicide in patients in treatment is described in this chapter. It was developed in a psychiatric hospital and based on the results of a longitudinal study of patients who committed suicide over twenty-one years. This study was able to compare suicide rates before and after a change of policy in the hospital for the treatment of depression. Since 1999 the treatment of moderate to severe depression has been based on the principle of meeting the patient's regressive needs, and the rates of suicide have declined. This model of treatment and the implications for understanding the role of depression in suicide are discussed in this chapter.
