Suicide watch

Monitoring process to ensure that a person cannot attempt suicide

Suicide

Social aspects

* ACEs
* Altruistic
* Bullying
* List of suicides attributed to bullying
* Copycat
* Dysfunctional family
* Emotional isolation
* Epidemic
* Identity performance
* Legislation
* Loneliness
* Philosophy
* Religious views
* Right to die
* School bullying
* Shame
* Social alienation
* Social defeat
* Social exclusion
* Social invisibility
* Social isolation
* Social rejection
* Social media and suicide
* Social support
* Toxic workplace
* Voluntary euthanasia
* Workplace bullying

Crisis

* Assessment of risk
* Beck Hopelessness Scale
* Crisis hotline (list)
* IS PATH WARM?
* SAD PERSONS scale
* Intervention
* Prevention
* Suicide attempt
* Suicide watch

Types and methods

* Assisted
* Bullying and suicide (list)
* Cop
* Copycat
* Familicide
* Forced
* Hanging
* Honor
* Jauhar
* Jumping
* Mass
* Murder–suicide
* Pact
* Internet
* Pilot
* Prayopavesa
* Prisoner suicide
* Rail
* Sallekhana
* Sati
* Self-sacrifice
* Senicide
* Seppuku
* Sokushinbutsu
* Suicide attack
* Vatakkiruttal
* Vehicle collision

Epidemiology

* Gender differences
* LGBTQ people
* Mormon
* Methods
* Rate by country
* Seasonal effects
* Suicidal person
* Youth mental health crisis
* Youth suicide

History

* List of suicides
* LGBTQ suicides
* Suicide in antiquity
* List of suicides in the 21st century

In warfare

* Banzai charge
* Kamikaze
* Suicide mission

Related phenomena

* Anguish
* Alcoholism
* Anhedonia
* Animal loss
* Anxiety disorder
* Asperger syndrome
* Autism spectrum
* Conditions comorbid to autism
* Biology of depression
* Epigenetics of depression
* Causes of mental disorders
* Chronic condition
* Chronic pain
* Coping
* Coping planning
* Depression (mood)
* Diseases of despair
* Diseases of poverty
* Echo chamber
* Existential crisis
* Financial crisis
* Grief
* suicide bereavement
* Ideation
* Interpersonal relationships
* Locations
* Major depressive disorder
* Mental disorder
* Mental health first aid
* Neurodevelopmental disorder
* Non-suicidal self-injury
* Perfectionism
* Personal finance
* Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
* Poverty
* Psychological first aid
* Psychological stress
* Psychological trauma
* Schizophrenia
* Self-harm
* Self-hatred
* Substance abuse
* Suffering
* Suicidal ambivalence
* Suicide and the Internet
* Suicide and trauma
* Suicide awareness
* Suicide in colleges in the United States
* Suicide in music subcultures
* Suicide note
* Suicide survivor
* Suicide terminology
* Suicide tourism
* Suicidology
* Warning signs of suicide

By country

* Rate by country
* Afghanistan
* Australia
* Bangladesh
* Cameroon
* Canada
* China
* France
* Greenland
* India
* Iran
* Ireland
* Japan
* Lesotho
* Lithuania
* Nepal
* Pakistan
* Romania
* Russia
* Saudi Arabia
* Singapore
* South Korea
* Spain
* Sri Lanka
* Sweden
* Switzerland
* Ukraine
* United Kingdom
* United States

Organizations

* Compassion & Choices
* Death with Dignity National Center
* Dignitas
* Exit International
* Final Exit Network
* Hemlock Society

* v
* t
* e

Suicide watch (sometimes shortened to SW) is an intensive monitoring process used to ensure that any person cannot attempt suicide. Usually the term is used in reference to inmates or patients in a prison, hospital, psychiatric hospital or military base. People are placed on suicide watch when it is believed that they exhibit warning signs indicating that they may be at risk of committing bodily harm or purposefully killing themselves.

## In hospitals

[edit]

In hospitals, the practice is sometimes referred to as constant visual observation (CO). CO is the practice of placing somebody, generally someone in a psychiatric inpatient unit, under the constant supervision of a healthcare worker.[1] CO is widely used for potentially suicidal patients, but the evidence to support its effectiveness is weak. Concerns around the use of constant visual observation include paternalism, distrust and dislike by patients, job dissatisfaction amongst staff on CO, and the high cost of paying staff for long shifts.[2][3]

## In correctional institutes

[edit]

Various forms of suicide watch exist. These generally involve the subject being under continuous or very frequent watch of a guard, such as a prison officer, security officer or orderly, who will intervene if the subject attempts to harm themselves.

### Periodic

[edit]

Periodic suicide watch, or more simply known as suicide watch, involves the subject being monitored through frequent periodic checks.

### Intense

[edit]

Intense suicide watch or observation involves the subject being observed continually by a person who may be employed in one of several possible capacities, sitting or standing in direct sight or arm's reach of the subject. This may be known as a 1 to 1.[citation needed]

## Conditions

[edit]

People under suicide watch are put into an environment where it would be difficult for them to hurt themselves. In many cases, any dangerous items will be removed from the area, such as sharp objects and some furniture, or they may be placed in a special padded cell, which has nothing outcropping from the walls (e.g., a clothes hook or door closing bracket) to provide a place for a ligature to be attached, and with only a drain-grill on the floor. They may be stripped of anything with which they might hurt themselves or use as a noose, including belts, neckties,[4] bras, shoes, shoelaces, socks, suspenders, glasses, necklaces, bed sheets and other items.[5] They are only allowed small finger foods and no books. Large objects, such as pizza slices or crumpled pages of a book, could be used for suffocation.[6] In extreme cases, the inmate may be undressed entirely.

In even more extreme cases, inmates may be placed in "therapeutic restraints", a four- or five-point restraint system. The inmate is placed on their back on a mattress. Their arms and legs are tied down and a belt is placed across the chest. In a five-point system, the head is also restrained. An inmate is allowed a range of movement every two hours, when one limb is released and they are allowed to move it for a short period. They are then restrained again, proceeding to the next limb. This process is repeated until all areas restrained have been moved. This process usually continues in eight-hour shifts, and the inmate has a face-to-face encounter with a mental health professional at least once in each eight-hour interval. This cannot continue for more than 16 consecutive hours. The inmate is continually watched by staff during this time.

In the most extreme cases of self-harm, only when all other avenues have not worked or are impracticable,[citation needed] "chemical restraint" drugs may be used to sedate the inmate. In order for a facility to administer a chemical restraint, it must have the approval/recommendation of a licensed mental health professional, the facility warden, and a court order.[citation needed]

## Controversies

[edit]

Inmates are often placed naked in suicide cells, which are usually bare concrete, often without bedding (to prevent hanging by using bedsheets), and under frequent or continuous observation by guards. Unsanitary conditions are also common since toilet paper, underwear and tampons (all potential means of choking) are restricted. Being exposed without any way of covering oneself, coupled with being under constant observation, can aggravate mental distress, particularly if the inmate has been a victim of sexual abuse. These harsh conditions came to light in 1998 when Elizabeth B., an inmate of Framingham prison in Massachusetts, USA, called a radio talk show to describe how she had been treated while on suicide watch:

> I was ... put on eyeball status, stripped of belongings, clothing, placed naked in a room with nothing but a plastic mattress on the floor. Watched 24 hours a day by a man or woman. I was on my period but because of my status not allowed to have tampons or underwear. I was very humiliated, degraded. Being on eyeball status with male officers, my depression intensified. I didn't want to be violated any more than I already was, so I put the mattress up against the window. When I did that I was in violation because they couldn't see me. The door was forced open, I was physically restrained in four-point restraints - arms, legs spreadeagled, tied to the floor, naked, helmet on head, men and women in the room.[7]

Being on a suicide watch does not guarantee a person will not kill themself. Ashley Smith, a female inmate at a facility in Canada, killed herself while under suicide watch in October 2007. The circumstances surrounding her death were the subject of the Ashley Smith inquest.

## See also

[edit]

* 5150 (Involuntary psychiatric hold)
* Prisoner suicide

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Nursing & Midwifery (26 July 2017). "Engagement and Observation in Mental Health Inpatient Units" (PDF). New South Wales Health. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
2. ^ Russ, Mark J (2017). "Constant observation of suicidal patients". Journal of Psychiatric Practice. 22 (5): 382–388\. doi:10.1097/PRA.0000000000000175. PMID 27648502.
3. ^ Kiley, Kathleen; Volpe, Diana; Schenkel, Sara Rae; DeGrazia, Michele (2020). "Constant observation of pediatric patients at risk for self-harm and suicide: An evidence-based practice inquiry". Applied Nursing Research. 55 (1). doi:10.1016/j.apnr.2020.151294. PMID 32532475.
4. ^ "'Standing Up to Ezra Pound'". New York Times. September 29, 1991. p. 37. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
5. ^ "Variances Granted by the Board of Correction". NYC Board of Corrections. NYC.gov. November 2005. Archived from the original on 2 December 2011. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
6. ^ Rose, James (16 March 2020). "Counseling in Jail". Counseling Today. Archived from the original on 1 May 2020.
7. ^ "USA: Rights for All: "Not Part of my Sentence" Violations of the Human Rights of Women in Custody". Amnesty International. 1 March 1999. Retrieved 11 August 2019.

* v
* t
* e

Suicide

Suicide crisis|

* Assessment of suicide risk
* Crisis hotline
* list
* Suicidal ideation
* Suicide intervention
* Suicidology
* Suicide prevention
* Suicide watch
* Warning signs

Social aspects|

* Advocacy
* Altruistic
* Awareness
* Interpersonal theory
* Legislation
* Philosophy of suicide
* Religious views
* Euthanasia
* Right to die
* Social media and suicide
* Suicide survivor
* bereavement
* Literature
* Terminology
* Suicide and the Internet

Suicide types|

* Assisted suicide
* list
* Bullying and suicide
* list
* Charcoal-burning
* Copycat
* Epidemic
* Familicide
* Forced
* Gunshot
* Hanging
* Honor
* Immolation
* Jumping from height
* locations
* Mass
* Murder–suicide
* Vatakkiruttal
* Seppuku
* Sokushinbutsu
* Sallekhana
* Sati
* Prayopavesa
* By train
* London Underground
* Self-sacrifice
* Banzai charge
* Kamikaze
* Senicide
* Suicide attack
* By cop
* By pilot
* Pact
* Suicide pill
* Vehicular

Epidemiology|

* Sex differences
* List of countries by suicide rate
* Antidepressants and suicide risk

History|

* Suicide in antiquity
* List of suicides
* heads of state and government
* in the 21st century

Related|

* Animal suicide
* Autism
* Caring letters
* Consensual homicide
* Last words
* Self-harm
* Suicide methods
* Suicide note
* Suicide attempt
* Suicide prevention contract
* Tourism

By subculture|

* Doctors
* LGBTQ people
* list
* Mormon
* Military
* Music subcultures
* Prisoners
* Youth

By country|

* Afghanistan
* Australia
* Bangladesh
* Belarus
* Bhutan
* Cameroon
* Canada
* China
* France
* Denmark
* Greenland
* Greece
* Guyana
* Hong Kong
* student
* India
* youth
* farmers
* Iran
* Ireland
* Japan
* Kazakhstan
* Lesotho
* Lithuania
* Mexico
* Mozambique
* Nepal
* Nigeria
* Pakistan
* Romania
* Russia
* Saudi Arabia
* Singapore
* South Korea
* LGBT youth
* Spain
* Sri Lanka
* Sweden
* Switzerland
* Ukraine
* United Kingdom
* Assisted suicide
* United States
* Assisted suicide
* college
* farmers
* military veteran
* Native American
* teenage
* Uruguay

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