The C-SSRS screener (Columbia Protocol, recent version) is a brief suicide-risk screen built from six yes/no questions — there is no numeric total to calculate, so this page is a triage guide rather than a calculator. It is a quick-reference tool for licensed clinicians and trainees.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) in the U.S.
The screener asks six yes/no questions. Questions 1–5 cover suicidal ideation over the past month, in escalating order of severity; question 6 covers lifetime suicidal behavior or preparatory acts, with a recency follow-up (more than 3 months ago vs. within the past 3 months). In construct terms:
Per the Columbia Protocol branching: if question 2 is “No,” record “No” for questions 3–5 and proceed to question 6.
This page does not reproduce the screener's question wording; use your licensed/official copy of the instrument (available free at cssrs.columbia.edu) and ask each question as written.
The screener result is a triage category, evaluated from most to least severe:
| Answers endorsed | Screen result |
|---|---|
| “Yes” to question 4 or question 5, or question 6 behavior within the past 3 months | Positive screen — HIGH risk (ideation with intent/plan, or suicidal behavior within the past 3 months) |
| “Yes” to question 3, or question 6 behavior more than 3 months ago | Positive screen — moderate risk (method ideation, or suicidal behavior more than 3 months ago) |
| “Yes” to question 1 or question 2 only | Positive screen — low risk (ideation without method, intent, or plan) |
| “No” to everything | Negative screen — no ideation or behavior endorsed |
Any positive screen — low, moderate, or high — calls for completing a full risk assessment and following your practice's triage protocol. We deliberately did not build an interactive risk-triage widget here: suicide-risk triage belongs in a clinical conversation, not a web form.
Screening scores are not a diagnosis. Interpretation requires clinical judgment by a licensed professional. The triage bands above are screen categories only. This page is a quick-reference tool for licensed clinicians and trainees — it is not intended for self-assessment or for use by the general public, and it is not medical or clinical advice.
C-SSRS: © The Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene, Inc. Developed by Kelly Posner, Ph.D., and colleagues at Columbia University (The Columbia Lighthouse Project). Distributed free of charge for use in healthcare and community settings; cssrs.columbia.edu.
This page does not reproduce the questionnaire itself; use your licensed/official copy of the instrument to administer it. Questions are identified by number and construct only.
Progress Note Studio builds complete, audit-ready SOAP notes from point-and-click clinical findings — with PHQ-9, GAD-7, PCL-5, C-SSRS and four more screeners that score themselves. 100% offline. One-time license. No subscription, ever.