Patient dissatisfaction and attempted suicide.

This paper deals with the presence of suicidal behavior in a mental health clinic and psychiatric emergency room, and its relationships to what has been described in the literature as the "dependent-dissatisfied" personality. Procedures included a suicidal potential scale, projective figure drawings, and a brief interview about past and present suicidal behavior. The scale used significantly differentiated between high and low potentially suicidal groups. The high suicidal group showed a significantly greater dissatisfaction with treatment both past and present. The implications for both evaluation and therapy of suicidal patients are discussed.