C-SSRS

The Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) is a clinician-administered or self-report assessment tool developed by Kelly Posner and colleagues at Columbia University to evaluate suicidal ideation and behavior. It distinguishes between passive ideation (wish to be dead), active ideation (with or without plan/intent), preparatory behavior, and actual attempts, using a hierarchical severity scale. The C-SSRS is the FDA’s recommended instrument for assessing suicidality in all psychiatric clinical trials and has been adopted by the WHO, the Department of Defense, and the VA. In psychedelic research, the C-SSRS is administered at screening, baseline, and throughout treatment to monitor participant safety, as suicidality is an exclusion criterion in most trials and must be tracked as a potential adverse event. It is used in virtually every psilocybin, MDMA, and ketamine clinical trial. The C-SSRS is freely available and has been validated in over 100 countries and 140 languages.