The FAST is an 84-item self-report instrument designed to measure a broad range of self-destructive behavior patterns characteristic of suicidal individuals, including hopelessness, depression, anxiety, and suicide ideation.

• The client is asked to endorse how frequently he or she is experiencing self-critical/self-depreciating thoughts in the form of an internal dialogue or voice (i.e., negative thoughts directed toward oneself). When items are presented in this form, they often bring to light elements of a self-destructive process that have been partially or completely subconscious.
• The FASI is a subset/brief version of the FAST; it consists of the 27 FAST items that best predict suicide risk.
• For both the FAST and FASI, the scale raw scores are summed and normative scores are provided in the form of T scores and percentiles. The FAST contains five composite scores: Self-Defeating, Addictions, Self-Annihilating, Suicide Intent, and Total Score.