Assessment
Assessment seeks to understand an individual by integrating information from multiple sources such as clinical interviews; medical exams and physiological measures; standardized psychometric tests and questionnaires; structured diagnostic interviews; review of records; and collateral interviews. Interviews
Psychologists, psychiatrists, and other mental health professionals conduct clinical interviews to ascertain the nature of a patient or clients difficulties, including any signs or symptoms of illness the person might exhibit. Clinical interviews are "unstructured" in the sense that each clinician develops a particular approach to asking questions, without necessarily following a predefined format. Structured (or semi-structured) interviews prescribe the questions, their order of presentation, "probes" (queries) if a patients response is not clear or specific enough, and a method to rate the frequency and intensity of symptoms. Standardized psychometric measures
Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation
Nurses Global Assessment of Suicide Risk
Suicidal Affect–Behavior–Cognition Scale (SABCS)
Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale

Treatment
Treatment of suicidal ideation can be problematic due to the fact that several medications have actually been linked to increasing or causing suicidal ideation in patients. Therefore, several alternative means of treating suicidal ideation are often used. The main treatments include: therapy, hospitalization, outpatient treatment, and medication or other modalities. Therapy
In psychotherapy a person explores the issues that make them feel suicidal and learns skills to help manage emotions more effectively. Hospitalization
Hospitalization allows the patient to be in a secure, supervised environment to prevent the suicidal ideation from turning into suicide attempts. In most cases, individuals have the freedom to choose which treatment they see fit for themselves.
There are a number of treatment options for people who experience suicidal ideation. Definitions
The ICD-11 describes suicidal ideation as "thoughts, ideas, or ruminations about the possibility of ending ones life, ranging from thinking that one would be better off dead to formulation of elaborate plans".The DSM-5 defines it as "thoughts  about  self-harm, with deliberate consideration or planning of possible techniques of causing ones own death".The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines suicidal ideation "as thinking about, considering, or planning suicide". Terminology
Another term for suicidal ideation is suicidal thoughts.When someone who has not shown a history of suicidal ideation experiences a sudden and pronounced thought of performing an act which would necessarily lead to their own death, psychologists call this an intrusive thought. A commonly experienced example of this is the high place phenomenon, also referred to as the call of the void.Euphemisms related to mortal contemplation include internal struggle, voluntary death, and eating ones gun. Risk factors
The risk factors for suicidal ideation can be divided into three categories: psychiatric disorders, life events, and family history. Psychiatric disorders
Suicidal ideation is a symptom for many mental disorders and can occur in response to adverse life events without the presence of a mental disorder.There are several psychiatric disorders that appear to be comorbid with suicidal ideation or considerably increase the risk of suicidal ideation. For example, many individuals with borderline personality disorder exhibit recurrent suicidal behavior and suicidal thoughts.