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
- Respondent, then clinician review
- Software role
- Capture, not risk decision
- Crisis care
- Clinic pathway required
- Public self-test
- Not appropriate here
- Clinical role
- Protocol support
Administration
A focused client experience
The stored form is the 2026 self-report recent screener, completed by the respondent and reviewed by the clinic. This page is not a crisis service, and Lirena does not monitor responses in real time.
- One question at a time with visible progress
- Large keyboard-operable response choices
- Previous, next, and answer-review steps
- Clear confirmation that results go to the clinic
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
Lirena stores the 2026 self-report recent screener: questions 1 and 2, questions 3 to 5 only when question 2 is Yes, question 6, and the past-3-months follow-up only when question 6 is Yes. The result is the highest ideation question answered Yes (0-5) and whether behaviour occurred in the past 3 months (0 or 1). There is no total and no severity band. This page does not reproduce item wording.
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.