7 www.psychiatria.viamedica.pl tom 15, nr 1, 7–12 © Copyright 2018 Via Medica ISSN 1732–9841 Psychiatria PRACA ORYGINALNA Address for correspondence: Tytus J. Koweszko Clinic of Psychiatry Faculty of Health Sciences Medical University of Warsaw, Poland e-mail: koweszko@gmail.com Tytus Koweszko, Jacek Gierus, Anna Mosiołek, Agata Szulc Clinic of Psychiatry, Faculty of Health Sciences, Medical University of Warsaw, Poland Considerations of suicidal behaviour in psychiatrically hospitalised patients. A psychological portrait of a suicidal female and male Introduction A suffciently quick identifcation of suicidal risk is a dif- fcult task and constitutes a serious challenge for the medical staff. Preventing acts directed against one’s life and health among psychiatrically hospitalised patients requires a complex analysis which, irrespective of its ac- curacy, can prove insuffcient. The available observation- -based risk assessment tools, such as NGASR [1] and SAD PERSONS [2], provide information about the risk level, yet their actual prognostic value often proves in- suffcient. Despite its highest effectiveness in predicting suicidal behaviour, the C-SSRS [3] requires an interview to be conducted by the staff, which — in the case of frequent changes of staff, insuffcient information fow Abstract Introduction: The purpose of this study is to determine the psychological and clinical considerations of suicidal behaviour in psychiatrically hospitalised patients. Material and methods: The participants of the study were 154 psychiatrically hospitalised patients, who were examined with th ACL, BPRS, WHOQOL-BREF, C-SSRS, and descriptive questionnaire. The scale results were subject to analysis with the use of Spearman’s rho and the Mann-Whitney U test. The correlation analysis was carried out with reference to the number of earlier suicide attempts and the Mann-Whitney U test was used to determine intergroup differences depending on the presence or absence of suicidal behaviour over a lifetime and low/high suicide risk determined on the basis of the C-SSRS risk assessment. The authors conducted statistical analyses by the gender of the subjects. Results: The obtained results permitted identifcation of the psychological variables and clinical features which could predispose to suicidal behaviour. Additionally, the study revealed the risk factors and protective factors which are different for each gender. Conclusions: Based on the obtained data, the researchers created profles of a potential female and male suicide. A psycho- logical profle of a potential suicide can be a useful tool aiding the psychiatric staff in preventing suicidal behaviour in psychia- trically hospitalised patients. A different profle for males and females shows how important the patient’s gender is as a factor determining the specifcity of suicidal risk. Psychiatry 2018; 15, 1: 7–12 Key words: suicide, gender, psychiatry, risk factors and limitations arising from improper communication between medical staff members — can easily lead to the situation where the crucial details are overlooked [4]. The contemporary methods treat a suicidal patient uni- versally. The patient’s gender is taken into account to a small extent. And it is gender that largely determines suicidal risk and the specifcity of the actions taken [5]. Two/three times more males take their lives as a result of suicide, yet a higher number of unsuccessful suicide attempts are made by females. The relevant literature describes this phenomenon as a gender paradox [6–9]. Due to the differences in the occurrence and form of suicidal behaviour depending on gender, it is impossible to create a universal profle of a suicide without taking such a signifcant variable into account. A psychological profle enabling reliance on the information which can be obtained by a medical personnel based on an even superfcial contact with the patient could contribute to a more effcient risk identifcation.