The Process of Long-Term Suicide Bereavement: Responsibility, Familial Support, and Meaning Making

AbstractThe purpose of this qualitative study was to develop understanding of the experience of long-term suicide loss survivors and begin to develop theory of the process of healing. Ten suicide loss survivors were interviewed. Our analyses identified three major categories —one harmful, one helpful, and one that helped to move from harmful to the helpful. Feelings of responsibility was the major harmful category, meaning making the helpful one, and social support the one that appeared to help move from one to the other. Suicide-related thoughts and behaviors were fo und to be both harmful and helpful at times. Many systemic, family, and interpersonal processes relating to suicide ideation and the perceived responsibility of suicide loss survivors were identified for intervention and future study.
Source: Contemporary Family Therapy - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research