What Do We Know About Needs for Help After Suicide in Different Parts of the World?
A Phenomenological Perspective
Abstract
Background: “A person’s death is not only an ending: it is also a beginning – for the survivors. Indeed, in the case of suicide, the largest public health problem is neither the prevention of suicide (...), nor the management of attempts (...), but the alleviation of the effects of stress in the survivor-victims of suicidal deaths, whose lives are forever changed and who, over a period of years, numbers in the millions ...” (Edwin S. Shneidman, 1973). Aims: As there is no doubt that suicide postvention should be given a more prominent position on the agenda than is presently the case, this paper explores what we now know about perceived needs for help on the part of suicide bereaved in different parts of the world. Methods: A search of related literature in the field was undertaken using the PubMed/PsychInfo databases. In addition, professionals throughout the world working in the field of suicide postvention were invited to submit reports about suicide postvention measures or literature. Results: Very little research was found that reflected the perceived needs for help on the part of the bereaved – and all the studies stemmed from countries in the Western world. However, the bereaved in these studies agreed about a common need for peer and social support, and that professional help must be adapted to and offered with respect for individual needs. Thus, it seems that in societies in which the stigma about suicide has diminished, the bereaved experience very similar needs for help, whereas in other societies it is difficult to talk about their need for help because of the sanctions and taboos connected to suicide. Conclusions: We need far more culturally sensitive research in order to explore and clarify how each community understands suicide and reacts to families who have lost someone by suicide.
References
2005). A reflection on “suicide survivor.” Crisis, 26, 38–39.
(2009). Can postvention be prevention? Crisis, 30, 43–47.
(2001). Zorgbehoeften van nabestaanden van zelfdoding. Een exploratieve studie. Studie in opdracht van het Ministerie van Sociale Zaken (Eind rapport) [
(Care needs of survivors after suicide. An exploratory study. A study commissioned by the Ministry of Social Affairs. Final report ]. Brussels: Centrum ter Preventie van Zelfmoord.2006). The aftermath of suicide among African Americans. Journal of Black Psychology, 32, 335–348.
(2007). The lived experience of adults bereaved by suicide: A phenomenological study. Crisis, 28, 26–34.
(2006). The Day After: The suicide bereavement experience of Chinese in Hong Kong. In , Death, dying and bereavement: The Hong Kong Chinese experience (pp. 293–310/293). Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.
(2001). Bereavement after suicide – how far have we come and where do we go from here? Crisis, 22, 102–108.
(2005). Do suicide survivors suffer social stigma? A review of the literature. Perspectives in Psychiatric Care, 41, 14–21.
(2006). Grief shortly after suicide and natural death. A comparative study among spouses and first degree relatives. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 36, 419–433.
(2002). Assistance from local authorities versus survivors’ needs for support after suicide. Death Studies, 26, 647–669.
(2004). Bereaved parents’ experience of research participation. Social Science and Medicine, 58, 391–400.
(2008). Painful, difficult and incredibly rewarding: New research delves into the support process between social networks and parents who suffer the traumatic death of a child. Surviving Suicide, 20, 7–8.
(2010). International perspectives on suicide bereavement: Suicide survivors and postvention in Norway. In , Understanding the consequences and caring for the survivors (pp. 467–475). New York: Routledge, Taylor & Frances.
(2005). Siblings after suicide – “The forgotten bereaved.” Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 35, 714–724.
(2008). Effective grief and bereavement support: The role of family, friends, colleagues, schools and support professionals. London: Jessica Kingsley.
(2003). Predictors of psychosocial distress after suicide, SIDS and accidents. Death studies, 27, 143–165.
(1991). Adult survivors after suicide: Research problems and needs. In , Lifespan perspectives of suicides: Timelines in the suicide process (pp. 259–279). New York: Plenum.
(2001). Helping suicide survivors. In , Suicide prevention: Resources for the millennium (pp. 189–212). Philadelphia, PA: Brunner-Routledge.
(2008). Internet support groups for suicide survivors: A new mode for gaining bereavement assistance. Omega, 57, 217–243.
(2004). What helps and what hinders the process of surviving the suicide of someone close? Crisis, 25, 134–139.
(2003). Psychological autopsy interviews in suicide research: The reactions of informants. Archives of Suicide Research, 7, 73–82.
(2001). Is suicide bereavement different? A reassessment of the literature. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 31, 91–102.
(2004). Interventions for suicide survivors: A review of the literature. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 34, 337–349.
(2003). Does grief counseling work? Death Studies, 27, 765–786.
(2010). Challenges of doing a qualitative psychological autopsy study in Northern Uganda. Abstract book, 13th European Symposium on Suicide and Suicidal Behavior (p. 30). Rome: ESSSB.
(2003). Mortality in parents after death of a child in Denmark: A nationwide follow-up study. The Lancet, 361, 363–367.
(2008). Interventions for people bereaved through suicide: Systematic review. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 193, 438–443.
(2008). What do survivors tell us they need? Results from a pilot study. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 38, 375–389.
(2004). Complicated grief in survivors of suicide. Crisis, 25, 12–18.
(2000). The use of research findings in bereavement programs: A case study. Death Studies, 24, 585–602.
(2001). Meaning reconstruction and the experience of loss. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
(2006). Continuing bonds and reconstructing meaning: Mitigating complications in bereavement. Death Studies, 30, 715–738.
(2009). Time for change? IASP Postvention Taskforce Newsletter, 3, 1.
(2000). Adults mourning suicide: Self-reported concerns about bereavement, needs for assistance, and help-seeking behavior. Death Studies, 24, 1–9.
(2002). Suicide risk in relation to family history of completed suicide and psychiatric disorders: A nested case-control study based on longitudinal registers. The Lancet, 360, 1126–1130.
(2001). The efficacy of bereavement interventions: Determining who benefits. In , Handbook of bereavement research: Consequences, coping, and care (pp. 705–737). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
(1969). Prologue: Fifty-eight years. In , On the nature of suicide (pp. 1–30). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
(1973). Deaths of man (p. 33). New York: Quadrangle.
(2008). Bereavement research: 21st-century prospects. In , Handbook of bereavement research and practice: Advances in theory and intervention (pp. 577–603). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
(2003). Culture and its transfer. Ways of creating general knowledge through the study of cultural particulars. In , Online readings in psychology and culture (Unit 2). Bellingham, WA: Center for Cross-Cultural Research, Western Washington University.
(2001). A special scar. Philadelphia: Brunner Routledge.
(2010). Consumer participation: Ensuring suicide postvention research for end users. International Journal of Nursing Practice, 16, 7–13.
(2005). South Australian Suicide Postvention Project. Report to mental health services. Adelaide: Department of Health, Department of General Practice, University of Adelaide.
(2008). One of the many people bereaved by suicide in Hong Kong. IASP Postvention Taskforce Newsletter, 2, 3–6.
(