Plaid Pals: Dave’s Suicide Risk Assessment by Dave Johnson.

This is a short story about Dave who underwent a suicide risk assessment whilst being sectioned on a psychiatric ward.

This very small book of just 18 pages is a kind of check-list for assessing suicide risk. It could be useful for social workers to see if vulnerable people should be directed to professional help. It is clear and to the point. It is told in the style of a shopping trip where the buyer has a list. I found it to be an okay read and gave me some insight into a situation that sadly claims so many victims.

I wondered why it was called Plaid Pals but a quick internet search told me why. The University of Notre Dame has a University Counseling Center and on it’s website there is a page called Assessing the Risk of Suicide. Things to watch for when assessing potential risk: PLAID PALS - so it is an acronym standing for Plan, Lethality, Availability, Illness, Depression, - Previous attempts, Alone, Loss and Substance Abuse.

So Dave has clearly been through the system and the material is out there to publish his little book. What we have is an expansion of a university webpage which he is passing off as his book. Therefore I can only give his work just 2 stars as he has added so little to the game. Rather than bother with this little book, you would be better off searching online for self help websites.

Plaid Pals is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2015.