ABSTRACT
There are risks to the person with mental disorder through suicide, self-neglect and incitement of aggression from others. Risks to other people arise from the person with mental disorder through verbal and physical aggression, recklessness and impaired judgement, and neglect as a carer for others (children, frail elderly, people with learning or physical disability, other people with severe mental illness). Accurate assessment and management of the mental disorder is necessary but not sufficient. Specific assessment and management of the risk of harm to the self or others has also to be employed to manage mental disorder safely. For instance a doctor may correctly recognize that a person has depression and requires antidepressants. However, such a person contemplating suicide might decide to take an overdose of antidepressants as part of a suicide attempt. Therefore the suicide risk needs to be correctly identified. The patient should be followed up within the following week and prescribed only 1 week’s supply of an antidepressant.
