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OXFORD
Second Edition
IGOR GALVNKER
T H E SU IC I DA L C R I SI S
“In this important book, informed by both academic rigor and common
sense, Igor Galynker proposes that suicidality is not only a symptom of other
illnesses, but also a critical condition of its own. He proposes a new diagnostic
category that may be more likely than existing ones to catch affected individuals
ahead of their suicide attempts. The writing is clear and accessible, the lucid
arguments profound for changing the way we assess and treat patients at risk of
self-annihilation.”
—Andrew Solomon, Professor of Clinical Psychology, Columbia University
“Igor Galynker has crafted a masterful 2nd edition of his seminal book The
Suicidal Crisis. This book is an elegant tapestry that weaves clinical wisdom,
empirical data, theoretical sophistication, and support from over 50 cases.
Galynker’s ‘Suicide Crisis Syndrome’ is a much-needed candidate diagnosis
that deserves to be included in the DSM. Penned by one of the most thoughtful
psychiatrists, Galynker’s guide should be sitting on the desk of every clinician
who aspires to understand, assess, and treat suicidal patients. This extraordinary
book has the potential to save the lives of patients suffering in suicidal despair.”
—David A. Jobes, Professor of Psychology and Director of the Suicide
Prevention Laboratory, The Catholic University of America, Washington DC
“Study this book to grasp the core of Suicide Crisis Syndrome. The author guides
readers through inner perspectives of patients’ suicidal crises, and the book
advances clinicians’ abilities to assess and prevent suicide. This second edition
is a must-read, especially in light of the major public health issue of suicide
worldwide.”
—Maurizio Pompili, Professor and Chair of Psychiatry, Sant’Andrea Hospital,
Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
“Galynker’s second edition of The Suicidal Crisis is unique in its presentation of
deep-dive, scientifically derived constructs about suicide, alongside its pragmatic
utility for clinicians. Galynker’s passion to find answers through science and
to truly help suicidal people, has led to promising data that can inform how
clinicians assess risk for suicide, and how they can engage in person-centered,
compassionate, effective care.”
—Christine Yu Moutier, Chief Medical Officer, American Foundation for
Suicide Prevention
The Suicidal Crisis
Clinical Guide to the Assessment of Imminent
Suicide Risk
Second Edition
IG O R G A LY N K E R
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers
the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education
by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University
Press in the UK and certain other countries.
DOI: 10.1093/med/9780197582718.001.0001
This material is not intended to be, and should not be considered, a substitute for medical or other professional
advice. Treatment for the conditions described in this material is highly dependent on the individual circumstances.
And, while this material is designed to offer accurate information with respect to the subject matter covered and
to be current as of the time it was written, research and knowledge about medical and health issues is constantly
evolving and dose schedules for medications are being revised continually, with new side effects recognized and
accounted for regularly. Readers must therefore always check the product information and clinical procedures with
the most up-to-date published product information and data sheets provided by the manufacturers and the most
recent codes of conduct and safety regulation. The publisher and the authors make no representations or warranties
to readers, express or implied, as to the accuracy or completeness of this material. Without limiting the foregoing,
the publisher and the authors make no representations or warranties as to the accuracy or efficacy of the
drug dosages mentioned in the material. The authors and the publisher do not accept, and expressly disclaim,
any responsibility for any liability, loss, or risk that may be claimed or incurred as a consequence of the use
and/or application of any of the contents of this material.
Acknowledgments xv
Case 19 154
Alcohol and Drug Withdrawal 154
Case 20 156
Adolescents 157
Children in Conflict with Parents 157
Case 21 159
Ongoing Childhood and Adolescent Abuse and Neglect 160
Bullying 162
Case 22 163
Case 23 164
Internet and Social Media 165
Screen Time 166
Internet Addiction 166
Cyberbullying 167
COVID-19 Pandemic 168
References 169
6. Suicidal Narrative 187
The Seven Stages of the Suicidal Narrative 187
Stage 1: Unrealistic Life Goals 192
Case 24 193
Case 25 195
Stage 2: Entitlement to Happiness 197
Case 26 202
Case 27 203
Stage 3: Failure to Redirect to More Realistic Goals 205
Case 28 207
Case 29 208
Stage 4: Humiliating Personal or Social Defeat 209
Case 30 212
Case 31 212
Stage 5: Perceived Burdensomeness 214
Case 32 215
Case 33 216
Stage 6: Thwarted Belongingness 217
Case 34 220
Case 35 221
Stage 7: Perception of No Future 222
Case 36 224
Case 37 226
Constructing the Suicidal Narrative 227
Probing the Suicidal Narrative: An Interview Algorithm 230
Case Examples 232
Case 38: High Risk for Imminent Suicide 232
Contents xi
Index 507
Acknowledgments
In June of 2019, the summer before the COVID-19 pandemic, three Navy
sailors assigned to the USS George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier died by suicide
in three separate incidents. These deaths marked the third, fourth, and fifth
crew members of the carrier to take their own lives in two years. The mil-
itary suicide problem is echoed by a similar problem in the medical field.
Every day, one U.S. doctor ends his or her own life—one of the highest sui-
cide rates in any profession (Peterson et al., 2020). In another demographic
subgroup, American Indians have the highest rate of suicide of any racial or
ethnic group in the United States (Curtin et al., 2021). The suicide epidemic
has reached all of us.
The U.S. suicide statistics are sobering, and the scope of the suicide epidemic
represents a major public health crisis. In 2020, 45,979 people in the United
States died by suicide (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC],
2020) and it is estimated that 1,200,000 attempted suicide. To put this in per-
spective, among individuals under the age of 45, suicide accounts for more an-
nual deaths than homicide, AIDS, car accidents, and war (Heron, 2021). More
teenagers and young adults will die from suicide than from cancer, heart di-
sease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, pneumonia, influenza, and chronic lung di-
sease combined. While the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic coincided
with a drop in overall suicide rates in the United States, there was an increase
in suicide rates in children and adolescents and young adults 10 to 34 years old.
Remarkably, in 2020, deaths among Black girls and women between ages 10
and 24 increased more than 30%, from 1.6 to 2.1 per 100,000 people. Black boys
and men of the same age had a 23% increase, from 3 to 3.7 per 100,000 (Curtin
et al., 2021). According to the CDC, in the summer of 2020, 11% of surveyed
adults over 18 years old reported having seriously considered suicide since
the beginning of the pandemic. This translates into an astounding 22,000,000
Americans who should be evaluated for suicide risk (Czeisler et al., 2020).
2 The Suicidal Crisis
While the suicide rates in the United States have been steadily
increasing over the past two decades, in other industrialized countries,
such as Great Britain, pre-COVID suicide rates have been steadier, while
the rates have decreased worldwide, from their peak at 1,000,000 in 1995
to the estimated 703,000 in 2019 (World Health Organization, 2021). In
the United States, however, in 2017 alone, suicide rates increased by 10%
in adolescents and young adults age 15 to 24 and rose by a staggering 50%
in children age 10 to 14. Despite a 3% decrease in U.S. suicide rates in 2019,
suicide is currently the tenth leading cause of death overall and the second
leading cause of death in adolescents and young adults 10 to 34 years old
(Heron, 2021).
Although somewhat obscured by the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. sui-
cide epidemic continues unabated, and it is time to confront it with the same
determination that we confronted the epidemic of HIV/AIDS. We can start
the battle by understanding that the mental state leading to suicide is an in-
dependent medical condition, one that can be diagnosed and treated with
medications and psychotherapy.
As doctors and therapists have learned from decades of experience, a su-
icidal person cannot be expected to volunteer the truth about suicide plans.
This is partly because the suicidal crisis may be very short-lived, and partly
because the mind of a suicidal person is critically afflicted and therefore
cannot be relied upon to adequately assess its own dangerous state. Recent re-
search shows that the pre-suicidal state of mind is an illness in itself, a mental
state characterized by five recognizable criteria, including entrapment, affec-
tive dysregulation, loss of cognitive control, hyperarousal, and acute social
withdrawal (Bloch-Elkouby et al., 2020; Calati et al., 2020; Rogers et al., 2019;
Schuck et al., 2019). This condition is called the Suicide Crisis Syndrome
(SCS), and SCS can and should be treated.
Because our understanding of the pre-suicidal mental state is relatively
new and has yet to be incorporated into the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual
of Mental Disorders (DSM), contemporary clinical practice largely sees su-
icide as a manifestation of other mental disorders, such as depression or
schizophrenia. Clinicians try to prevent suicide by treating the underlying
condition, while relying on individuals to develop insight into, and to report,
their mental processes that may lead to suicide. Specifically, mental health
professionals rely on patients to honestly and accurately disclose their su-
icidal ideation (SI) by answering questions like “Have you ever thought of
harming yourself?” or “Are you planning to harm yourself?”
Introduction and Overview 3
The success rate of this method is low, performing slightly above chance.
That is not surprising, given that about 75% of people who die by suicide
never reveal their suicidal thoughts to anyone, according to the CDC (Stone
et al., 2018). Indeed, some of them may not have a conscious suicidal plan
until the very last moment of their life, or even not at all.
Such was the case of Kathy (name changed), the mother of a 12-year-old
boy, who was in the throes of a hostile divorce and who, at the last second, did
not move away from an oncoming van. Somehow, Kathy survived. When her
many fractures healed, she said, pensively, “I never thought I was suicidal,
but I guess I was, because otherwise I would have moved away.” Kathy would
not have reported being suicidal, but she met all the SCS criteria.
In the inpatient and outpatient facilities at Mount Sinai Beth Israel, in
New York, the attending staff and psychiatry residents were trained to recog-
nize SCS and to use it as the centerpiece of suicide risk assessment. Through
training and practice, they were able to confidently identify high-risk indi-
viduals and help them recover, without relying on the patients’ self-diagnosis
via admission of their suicidal intent. Furthermore, after SCS assessment was
implemented in the NorthShore University Health System in Chicago, the
emergency department clinicians started using SCS diagnosis as a tool to in-
form their admission and discharge decision-making related to SI. Over the
first two years, there were no completed suicides, and the readmission rate
for suicide risk went down by 40% (Figure 1.1).
While doctors would never dream of basing a diagnosis solely on a
patient’s declaring “I am schizophrenic” or “I am bipolar,” the pre-suicidal
mind is more distorted and acutely life-threatening than either schizo-
phrenia or bipolar disorder. Still, for decades, risk assessment has been based
8%
44%
92% 56%
SCS + SCS – SI + SI –