First, read through the following case study:
Erik is a 14-year-old boy who first visited the social work mental health treatment facility ten days ago after
telling his mom that he had been thinking of hurting himself with a knife. Yesterday, Erik's dad caught him
smoking cigarettes in the basement of his grandmother's house. A loud argument ensued in which Erik told his
dad that he didn't care about living anymore and would be better off dead. Erik's dad didn't believe him and
grounded him for a month for smoking and arguing. Erik's mom started yelling at his dad that the punishment
was too harsh and that she was going to take Erik to the social work facility to talk things through.
Upon arriving, Erik admitted that he had been feeling down the last few months. He said that he wanted to be a
musician and that he didn't see any point to going back to school because he needed to stick with his music
and get better on his guitar; besides, he hated Math class. Erik reported that his grades were pretty good
through eighth grade, mostly As and Bs, but during the past year they slipped to the point that he's on
academic probation, which means he can't participate in any after school activities. When asked about his
friends, he stated that since starting high school he didn't see too many of his friends from middle school and
that he occasionally hung around with a new crowd of kids who smoked cigarettes--sometimes marijuana. He
admitted to skipping school with them to go and smoke by the old railroad tracks.
When asked how he would describe his feeling down, Erik said that he was sometimes sad, that he didn't feel
like getting out of bed in the morning, and that he couldn't concentrate in school. He disclosed that six weeks
ago he and his girlfriend of three months broke up and that, afterward, he burned himself on his thighs with
cigarettes so no one could see. He said that more recently, he's had thoughts of cutting himself with his pocket
knife or one of his dad's razors. He then disclosed that he sometimes thinks about suicide.
With this information in mind, answer the following questions:
What screening tool would you use to assess Erik?
What further questions would you ask to complete a full assessment?