In a recent and very appropriate editorial article, Nordentoft addresses the complexity and challenges of evaluations of the risk of suicidal behaviour with emphasis on psychiatric disorders and clinical practice (1). The article suggest that to improve suicide prevention in different psychiatric settings, staff should focus on clinical variables in order to detect immediate suicide risk, with a major focus on listening to the patient's suicidal thoughts and sense of worthlessness and other clinical manifestations of high risk of suicide. Moreover, the clinicians should listen carefully to signs and signals indicating unspoken risk of suicide.The headline of the editorial by Nordentoft is 'Listen to the patient'. In this context, one might add another aspect of the patient-related exploration of risk of suicide, exploring the patient's own perception about his or hers risk of suicidal behaviour. Despite the uncertainty of the honesty and insight behind patient's own perception of suicidal risk; for example by concealing suicidal ideation to prevent hospitalization (as Nordentoft states in the article), this topic has been an integrated part of clinical practice for years in many psychiatric milieus and settings.However, very few articles exploring the validity of patients own risk perceptions have been published. A study from an acute psychiatric department showed that patients' perceptions (at discharge) of moderate or higher suicidal risk were prospectively significant (P < 0.01) for suicidal behaviour during the first 3 months after discharge (2). Results indicated that the patient's risk perception added incremental validity to established clinical and psychosocial risk factors of suicide attempts.In a recent paper, Skeem et al. (3) reported that patients' self-perceptions hold promise as a method for improving risk assessment of violence in routine clinical settings. She further stated that assuming it replicates and generalizes beyond the research context, this finding encourages a shift away from unaided clinical judgment toward a feasible method of risk assessment built on patient collaboration.The sparse research in the field of 'patients' perception' do not yet allow for general evidence-based recommendations of incorporating this into the complex field of evaluation of suicide risk. However, patient collaboration and participation in decision-making procedures are important, and further investigations in this field should be encouraged. References 1. Nordentoft M. Listen to the patient: challenges in the evaluation of the risk of suicidal behaviour. Acta Psychiatr Scand 2016;133:255-256. 2. Roaldset JO, Bjørkly S. Patients' own statements of their future risk for violent and self-harm behaviour: a prospective inpatient and post-discharge follow-up study in an acute psychiatric unit. Psychiatry Res 2010;178:153-159. 3. Skeem JL, Manchak SM, Lidz CW, Mulvey EP. The utility of patients' self-perceptions of violence risk: consider asking the person who may know best. Psychiatr Serv 2013;64: 410-415.