A major proportion of patients admitted to psychiatric acute and emergency departments have symptoms, behaviors or function influenced by implicit or explicit suicidal intention (tendency towards self-harm, or suicide attempt). There is an increased risk of suicide in the acute phase during in-patient stay and after discharge. At present there is no satisfactory tool to predict post-discharge suicide risk.

Multidimensional rating is expected to have better predictive properties than one-dimensional rating for suicidal behavior during in -patient stay and two years after discharge. Multidimensional rating assesses anxiety, panic, agitation, suicidal thoughts and ideations, as well as therapist's reactions during interviews. In the present study the predictive properties of two rating scales for suicidal behavior during in-patient stay and two years after will be compared. One of these is a multidimensional scale: "Multidimensional Assessment of Suicide Risk" (MARIS).

Inclusion Criteria:

• acute agitated condition
• informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

• Drug abuse
• in-patient stay for a fixed time at regular intervals

Patients admitted to the psychiatric acute department for central Norway, St Olavs University Hospital, Trondheim. The department has a catchment area of approximately 240000 inhabitants ≥ 18 years. The hospital has close to 2000 admittances each year