Use of physiological monitoring in crisis interviewing: intervention in suicidal states

Use of physiological data displayed on Intensive Care Unit (ICU) monitors can be a valuable adjunct for the consulting psychiatrist interviewing a resistant post ingestion patient. Directing the patient's awareness to his own physiological responses at moments of repressed affect can aid in penetrating dense denial of depression and lead to better empathic contact between interviewer and patient. The equipment is unintrusive because it is part of the ICU environment, attached as standard procedure for management of such patients.