Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale - Screener
The Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale screener is a structured way to ask about suicidal ideation and behaviour. This page is educational. Lirena does not automate risk decisions.
Overview
What is the C-SSRS?
The C-SSRS, developed at Columbia University, is a family of tools for asking about suicidal ideation and behaviour in a consistent way. This catalogue entry refers to a screener form, not every C-SSRS version. It is screening support inside a clinic-owned protocol.
Development and clinical use
Posner and colleagues developed the C-SSRS to distinguish ideation from behaviour and to standardise questions used in research and practice. Training, exact form, and local emergency pathways are part of safe use.
- Family of tools
- Screener versus full scale
- Administrator
- Trained staff
- Software role
- Capture, not risk decision
- Crisis care
- Clinic pathway required
- Public self-test
- Not appropriate here
- Clinical role
- Protocol support
Administration
A focused clinician rating
The screener is typically administered by a trained person, not as an unsupervised public web test. Immediate clinical review and local crisis pathways remain the clinic's responsibility. Lirena does not monitor responses in real time.
- One rated item at a time with visible progress
- Keyboard-operable response choices
- Previous, next, and review steps for the rater
- Clear confirmation that the rating is stored for clinic review
The illustration shows a calm structured prompt flow and does not reproduce C-SSRS questions.
Report showcase
Designed to make evidence easy to review
The downloadable synthetic example illustrates report layout using invented response patterns, without patient data or instrument questions.
- Named instrument, version, and provenance
- Item-level response pattern without source wording
- Methodology, references, and clinical boundary
- Responsible clinician review rather than automated conclusions
Clinician review required
Methodology
Understand the measure and its scoring conventions
Official Columbia materials define wording, branching, and training. This page does not reproduce items or independently verify a scoring algorithm. Do not treat software output as a risk category or safety clearance.
References
- Official C-SSRS programmeColumbia Lighthouse Project. Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale.
- Scale development paperPosner K et al. The Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale. Am J Psychiatry. 2011;168(12):1266-1277.
Questions
What clinics ask before they evaluate the C-SSRS
These answers stay inside educational catalogue scope. They do not replace official manuals or clinician judgement.
Does Lirena decide suicide risk from C-SSRS?
No. Software must not convert answers into an automated risk category or treatment action. The clinic owns review, safeguarding, and emergency pathways.
Can the public complete C-SSRS here?
No. This is not a crisis service and not a public self-test. If you need urgent help, contact local emergency services.
Is every C-SSRS form the same?
No. There are screener and full versions. Use the official form your service is trained to use.
What must be in place before using it?
Training, an identified reviewer, and a documented escalation path. Those are clinic responsibilities, not this webpage.