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Doctors can better help patients with mental health concerns by adopting a different questioning style around self-harm and suicide, experts have said.
New research warns patients may find it difficult to disclose thoughts of self-harm because of the way in which GPs ask about them.
Academics who examined consultations found that GPs were prone to ask questions in a way that invited a "no" response (e.g. "You're not having any thoughts of harming yourself?") and that patients were subsequently more hesitant when reporting thoughts of self-harm.
The study says that discussions about self-harm could be improved by GPs adopting a more open questioning style. This would mean acknowledging the possibility that patients might say "yes" when asked about thoughts of self-harm.