Suicide watch is an intensive monitoring process used to ensure that an individual does not die by suicide

Suicide

Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...

. Usually the term is used in reference to inmates in a prison

Prison

A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...

, hospital

Hospital

A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....

, psychiatric hospital

Psychiatric hospital

Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...

, or military base

Military base

A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. In general, a military base provides accommodations for one or more units, but it may also be used as a...

s. Individuals are placed on suicide watch when it is believed there is a good chance they will attempt to cause bodily harm to themselves.

Forms

Various forms of suicide watch exist. These generally involve the subject being under continuous or very frequent watch of a guard, such as a prison officer

Prison officer

A prison officer , also referred to as a corrections officer , correctional officer , or detention officer , is a person charged with the responsibility of the supervision, safety and security of prisoners in a prison, jail, or similar form of secure...

 or orderly

Orderly

A medical orderly , is a hospital attendant whose job consists of assisting medical and/or nursing staff with various nursing and/or medical interventions. These duties are classified as routine tasks involving no risk for the patient.- Job details :Orderlies are often utilized in various hospital...

, who will intervene if they attempt to harm themselves. The main forms are:

Periodic suicide watch

Periodic suicide watch, known at many facilities simply as suicide observation or suicide watch, involves the subject being monitored through frequent periodic checks

Intense suicide watch

Intense suicide watch or observation, involves the subject being observed continually by a person who may be employed in one of several possible capacities, sitting or standing in direct sight or arm's reach of the subject.

Video suicide watch

In some places, video suicide watches are performed, in which the subject receives video monitoring via closed circuit television from a remote area of the facility.

Conditions of suicide watch

People under suicide watch are put into an environment where it would be difficult for them to hurt themselves. In many cases, any dangerous items will be removed from the area, such as sharp objects and some furniture, or they may be placed in a special padded cell

Padded cell

A padded cell is a cell in a mental hospital with cushions lining the walls. The padding is an attempt to prevent a patient from hurting him/herself by hitting his/her head on the hard surface of the walls...

, which has nothing outcropping from the walls to provide a place for a ligature to be attached, and with only a drain-grill on the floor. They may be stripped of anything with which they might hurt themselves or use as noose

Noose

A noose is a loop at the end of a rope in which the knot slides to make the loop collapsible. Knots used for making nooses include the running bowline, the tarbuck knot, and the slip knot.-Use in hanging:...

, including shoelaces, belts

Belt (clothing)

A belt is a flexible band or strap, typically made of leather or heavy cloth, and worn around the waist. A belt supports trousers or other articles of clothing.-History:...

, neckties, bras, socks, suspenders, other clothing, and bed sheet

Bed sheet

A bed sheet is a piece of cloth used to cover a mattress. It is this sheet that one typically lies on.In many areas of the world, a second flat bed sheet is laid on top of the sheet covering the mattress. This is known as a "top sheet" and when a top sheet is used, the sheet covering the mattress...

s. Such precautions are taken because people have attempted suicide with those items. In extreme cases the person may be undressed entirely.

Controversies

Suicide watch regimes, particularly in prisons, have been criticized for being too restrictive and dismissive of privacy, socially functioning as a form of legal torture rather than being in the interest of the detainee. Inmates are often placed naked in suicide cells, which are usually bare concrete, often without bedding (to prevent hanging by using bed sheets), and under frequent or continuous observation by guards. Unsanitary conditions are also common since toilet paper, underwear, and tampons (all potential means of choking

Choking

Choking is the mechanical obstruction of the flow of air from the environment into the lungs. Choking prevents breathing, and can be partial or complete, with partial choking allowing some, although inadequate, flow of air into the lungs. Prolonged or complete choking results in asphyxia which...

) are restricted. Being exposed without any way of covering oneself, coupled with being under constant observation can aggravate mental distress, particularly if the inmate has been a victim of sexual abuse in the past. These harsh conditions came to light in 1998 when Elizabeth B., an inmate of Framingham prison in Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

, USA, called a radio talk show to describe how she had been treated while on suicide watch:

I was ... put on eyeball status, stripped of belongings, clothing, placed naked in a room with nothing but a plastic mattress on the floor. Watched 24 hours a day by a man or woman. I was on my period but because of my status not allowed to have tampons or underwear. I was very humiliated, degraded. Being on eyeball status with male officers, my depression intensified. I didn't want to be violated any more than I already was, so I put the mattress up against the window. When I did that I was in violation because they couldn't see me. The door was forced open, I was physically restrained in four point restraints - arms, legs spreadeagled, tied to the floor, naked, helmet on head, men and women in the room.

Being on suicide watch does not guarantee an individual won't kill themselves. For example, the October 2007 suicide of a female inmate in Canada occurred while she was under suicide watch. The circumstances surrounding her death are the subject of the ongoing and high-profile Ashley Smith inquest

Ashley Smith inquest

The Ashley Smith inquest was a coroner's inquest in Ontario related to the institutional death of Ashley Smith, a teenager who committed suicide on October 19, 2007, while she was under suicide watch at the Grand Valley Institution for Women...

.