Should I be scared to be honest about suicide on my counselling questionnaire?

[d85]

I have my initial counselling assessment next Friday and have been sent an "IAPT Psychological Measures" questionnaire to fill in, which has a suicide risk assessment at the end of it.

To be honest, I have thought about suicide; I've thought about it every day since my HA flared up a month ago from the blood test (and subsequent HIV anxiety). I doubt I would do it—it's more a feeling of wishing you weren't alive rather than wishing you were dead, if that makes sense. But I'm worried that if I'm honest about it on the form, or even in the assessment when it's face-to-face, that they might declare I'm mentally unstable and force me into treatment, or take me away somewhere.

I don't know if this sounds excessive, it's just something else I'm worrying about at the moment. Would they do that? Or should I be 100% honest?

[mike_coventry_uk]

be honest,these people are there to help if you cover up anything it impairs their ability to do the job. i fill this questionairre in every week at my cbt sessions. the purpose of the questionairre is to rule out depression!! alot of ppl on this site mite think they wud be better off dead cos they struggle living with the symptoms does not mean your about to throw urself in front of a train!!!

be honest and they can get you feeling better in no time!!! the fact you are ssing them is a massive step to your fight against anxiety!!

stay strong

[pia]

I am always honest about this on my IAPT forms. The times i have said ive thought about suicide my counsellor has discussed it with me, asking me if i still felt the same way, had i attemted to harm myself etc... my answers to her questions have always been no, they are thoughts that i do not (and doubt i ever will) act on. Thats how i feel about it- i sometimes have these thoughts, but they are a desire to stop living so the pain and problems will go away, like you say, rather than wishing i was dead.
The counsellor will explain to you that everything you say is confidential and they will only ever intervene if they believe that you are a danger to yourself or someone else. If you told your counsellor that you had attemped suicide and were planning to do it again then i imagine they would step in! they have a duty to do this. Having a thought is very different.
maybe you could discuss it all with your counsellor? just as you have said in your post.

xxx

[Hexe]

Why dont u just say that you have thought about it but are sure you wouldnt do it? This is what i did and they seemed not to bother about that... just say that you are aware of the crisis number and will call in case it gets worse... i suppose that would be the answer they want to hear...

[d85]

Thank you so much for the replies. I think I'll fill in most of the questionnaire, apart from the risk assessment, and explain to the counsellor why I haven't filled that part in. I think I'm so anxious about it because it'll be down there in black and white, and I'm worrying that I won't be able to explain myself. There's a question about whether you've contemplated suicide in the last two weeks, and the answer is yes, but in reality, it's (obviously) a lot more complicated than a yes or no response.

Elad, to be honest, I'm envisioning them being so worried for my safety that they make me go and be put under 24 hour watch, which I know I don't need, but I might not be able to convey that to them.