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Suicidal Crisis Inventory-2 (SCI-2)3

Suicidal Crisis Inventory-2 (SCI-2) Test

This 55-question assessment takes about 11 minutes. The Suicidal Crisis Inventory-2 (SCI-2) Test helps you review patterns involving emotional distress, entrapment, agitation, social disconnection, and difficulty regulating thoughts and behavior. Your profile can support focused self-reflection about the experiences contributing to current distress.

Questions: 5511 minutes

Suicidal Crisis Inventory-2 (SCI-2): test ticket with numbers

October 2, 2025October 2, 2025Material has been updatedOctober 2, 2025Material has been published

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Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

Social AlienationSA

Social Alienation measures the extent of perceived isolation and detachment from other people.

example score6/20

6/20Lowexample score

0 – 6Low

7 – 13Moderate

14 – 20High

A score of 6 falls in the Low range, suggesting relatively limited feelings of social isolation or detachment at this time.

HyperarousalH

Measures the degree of nervous arousal, anxiety, and internal tension associated with acute psychological activation.

example score20/52

20/52Moderateexample score

0 – 17Low

18 – 34Moderate

35 – 52High

A score of 20 falls in the Moderate range, suggesting noticeable but not extreme overexcitement and internal tension.

Loss of Cognitive ControlLoCC

This scale measures difficulty maintaining cognitive control over thoughts and behavior, including concentration and self-regulation under stress.

example score9/44

9/44Lowexample score

0 – 14Low

15 – 29Moderate

30 – 44High

A score of 9 falls in the Low range, suggesting relatively preserved cognitive control with minimal reported problems in concentration or self-regulation.

Affective DisturbanceAD

Measures the severity of emotional disturbance (e.g., depression, anxiety, irritability) associated with acute crisis states.

example score42/64

42/64Moderateexample score

0 – 21Low

22 – 43Moderate

44 – 64High

A score of 42 falls in the Moderate range, suggesting notable emotional difficulties that may contribute to crisis-related distress.

EntrapmentE

Assesses the extent to which a person feels stuck in an unbearable situation with little perceived way out, reflecting hopelessness and desire to escape.

example score19/40

19/40Moderateexample score

0 – 13Low

14 – 26Moderate

27 – 40High

A score of 19 falls in the Moderate range, suggesting a noticeable but not extreme sense of being trapped and limited perceived options for relief.

Suicidal Crisis ScaleSCS

Measures the severity of an acute suicidal crisis based on a cluster of crisis-related symptoms such as emotional disorientation, emptiness, and loss of control.

example score96/220

96/220Elevated crisis indicatorsexample score

0 – 79Below threshold

80 – 220Elevated crisis indicators

A score of 96 falls in the elevated crisis indicators range (≥80), suggesting a higher level of suicidal-crisis symptom severity on this scale.

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DATA-BASED USER COHORTS

Who Usually Takes This Test?

Patients in acute distress

46%OF USERS

People feeling overwhelmed, emotionally numb, out of control, or in a sudden mental crisis take it to clarify how severe and urgent their risk is.

ER and inpatient intakes

34%OF USERS

New admissions or emergency evaluations use it as a fast screen when suicidal risk is unclear or not openly stated.

Therapy and follow-up clients

20%OF USERS

People already in treatment take it to track changes over time and help guide safety planning and intervention decisions.

BASED ON AGGREGATED, ANONYMIZED DATA FROM TENS OF THOUSANDS OF FREUDLY USERS.

Benchmarking

See How You Compare

Once you complete the test, your results are compared with real-world data from people in your country.
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.

Shaded area — where most people score

Dot — the average

You — your score lands on each curve after the test— your score, after the test

Social AlienationSA

You?

Average8.2

Typical rangeTypical5.7 – 10.7

Possible0 – 20

OverexcitementO

You?

Average21.2

Typical rangeTypical11.6 – 30.9

Possible0 – 52

Loss of cognitive controlLocc

You?

Average18

Typical rangeTypical10.9 – 25.2

Possible0 – 44

Affective DisordersAD

You?

Average38.9

Typical rangeTypical29.6 – 48.2

Possible0 – 64

Feeling TrappedFT

You?

Average26.9

Typical rangeTypical21 – 32.8

Possible0 – 40

Suicidal Crisis ScaleSCS

You?

Average140.8

Typical rangeTypical106.7 – 174.9

Possible0 – 220

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SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Example Questions From the Test

Please answer the following questions about how you have been feeling over the past week. During this time, when you felt particularly unwell:

- Not at all
- Probably no
- Somewhere in between
- Probably yes
- Extremely intense
- Not at all
- Rather no
- Moderately
- Rather yes
- Extremely
- Not at all
- Probably not
- Somewhat
- Probably yes
- Extremely

These are 3 of the 55 real questions — the rest appear in the test. No sign-up needed to start.

WHAT THE TEST MEASURES

Suicidal Crisis Inventory-2 (SCI-2) Test - Description and methodology of the test

suicidal risk

People trying to make sense of intense suicidal distress may use the Suicidal Crisis Inventory-2 (SCI-2) Test to organize experiences that can be difficult to describe during a crisis. It is intended for a respondent who wants a structured picture of emotional pain, agitation, disconnection, hopelessness, and impaired control. As a suicidal crisis assessment, it can help identify patterns worth discussing and monitoring while keeping interpretation tied to current circumstances.

What This Assessment Explores

Questions address emotional pain, thoughts, agitation, withdrawal, distrust, and entrapment. Scores gauge social disconnection, cognitive-control difficulty, and suicidal crisis indicators. SCI-2 presents six scales, including a summary scale:

Social Alienation (0-20) measures isolation and detachment; Low 0-6, Moderate 7-13, High 14-20.
Hyperarousal (0-52) measures nervousness and tension; Low 0-17, Moderate 18-34, High 35-52.
Loss of Cognitive Control (0-44) measures thought and behavior regulation; Low 0-14, Moderate 15-29, High 30-44.
Affective Disturbance (0-64) measures depression, anxiety, and irritability; Low 0-21, Moderate 22-43, High 44-64.
Entrapment (0-40) measures dead-end feelings, hopelessness, and escape urgency; Low 0-13, Moderate 14-26, High 27-40.
Suicidal Crisis Scale (0-220) summarizes severity; Below threshold 0-79, Elevated crisis indicators 80-220; 80 is the optimal high-risk cutoff.

Methodology and Scientific Basis

Five ordered response choices move from not at all or probable absence through a middle option to probable presence or extreme intensity. Wording varies by item, but each response asks how strongly the experience applied.

The online crisis questionnaire organizes responses into the six displayed scale scores and crisis indicators. Higher values indicate greater intensity; supplied bands describe the profile, while item wording does not establish each answer's point value.

The questionnaire is conceptually consistent with the published SCI-2 (Bloch-Elkouby et al., 2021), but is a separate online presentation, not a documented adaptation. That study examined prospective suicidal outcomes at one-month follow-up; its findings do not validate this online scoring, which has no documented norms or standardization. Barzilay et al. (2020) examined near-term risk for suicide attempts with the SCI, while Bloch-Elkouby et al. (2020) used network analysis to examine the suicide crisis syndrome.

Self-report means that current circumstances, response bias, limited self-awareness, and changing distress can affect an online profile; scores describe reported experiences at completion.

Author: David A. Jobes, Edwin S. Shneidman

Literature:

Bloch-Elkouby, S., Barzilay, S., Gorman, B. S., Lawrence, O. C., Rogers, M. L., Richards, J., Cohen, L. J., Johnson, B. N., & Galynker, I. (2021). The revised suicide crisis inventory (SCI-2): Validation and assessment of prospective suicidal outcomes at one month follow-up. Journal of Affective Disorders, 295, 1280-1291. 10.1016/j.jad.2021.08.048
Barzilay, S., Assounga, K., Veras, J., Beaubian, C., Bloch-Elkouby, S., & Galynker, I. (2020). Assessment of near-term risk for suicide attempts using the suicide crisis inventory. Journal of Affective Disorders, 276, 183-190. 10.1016/j.jad.2020.06.053
Bloch-Elkouby, S., Gorman, B., Schuck, A., Barzilay, S., Calati, R., Cohen, L. J., Begum, F., & Galynker, I. (2020). The suicide crisis syndrome: A network analysis. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 67(5), 595-607. 10.1037/cou0000423

Updated: 2025-10-02