Do you know what the term Homicidal Ideation mean is? I’m sure most of you do, and you might conclude that the expression “homicidal” came from the word homicide which means human killing another human. But the question is: Is that the real explanation of this term? To gives us further details in this regard, let us consider the following:
Base on one reference, homicidal ideation is common medical term for thoughts which spans from unclear ideas of revenge to detailed and fully prepared plans without the act itself. This is not a disease itself, but it may result because of some illnesses such as psychosis and delirium. How do we understand these two illnesses? The same reference describes psychosis as related to schizophreniform disorder and schizophrenia. And delirium is often drug induced or secondary to general medical illness. These may arise in association with personality disorders or in a people who do not have any detectable illness.
When trying to identify a person’s risk for violence, such as psychiatric patients or patients presenting to hospital with mental heath complaints, homicidal ideation is noted to be an important risk factor. This shows the need for an assessment of suicide risk in such people with thoughts of violence towards others.
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