The impact on mental health practitioners of the death of a patient by suicide: a systematic review.

The impact on mental health practitioners of the death of a patient by suicide: a systematic review. Clin Psychol Psychother. 2020 Sep 10;: Authors: Sandford DM, Kirtley OJ, Thwaites R, O'Connor RC Abstract There is a growing body of research investigating the impact on mental health professionals of losing a patient through suicide. However, the nature and extent of the impact is unclear. This systematic review synthesises both quantitative and qualitative studies in the area. The aim was to review the literature on the impact of losing a patient through suicide with respect to both personal and professional practice responses as well as the support received. A search of the major psychological and medical databases was conducted, using keywords including suicide, patient, practitioner and impact, which yielded 3942 records. 54 studies were included in the final narrative synthesis. Most common personal reactions in qualitative studies included guilt, shock, sadness, anger and blame. Impact on professional practice included self-doubt and being more cautious and defensive in the management of suicide risk. As quantitative study methodologies were heterogeneous, it was difficult to make direct comparisons across studies. However, 13 studies (total n = 717 practitioners) utilised the Impact of Event Scale, finding that between 12% and 53% of practitioners recorded clinically significant scores. The need for training that is focused on...
Source: Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy - Category: Psychiatry Tags: Clin Psychol Psychother Source Type: research