Suicide Prevention: The Experiences of Recurrent Suicide Attempters (A phenomenological study)

Objective: Presently, the issue of attempted suicide now poses one of the major challenges facing the healthcare providers in Iran and other countries. Although in previous years, the number of people entering to hospital emergency departments after deliberately taking overdoses or injuring themselves has been steadily increased in Iran, however, there is less attention to the issue of suicide prevention. The main aim of this study is to understand the experiences of those who re-attempted suicide, along with regarding suicide prevention.

Methods: A qualitative phenomenological approach was applied. Purposeful samples of 12 patients who had a history of attempted suicide and were able to attend and respond to questions were recruited. Data was gathered by means of an in-depth semi-structured interview with each subject separately. The analysis of the data was conducted using the phenomenological analytic method defined by Colaizzi.

Results: Over all, 667 descriptive codes were extracted, which were later reduced to 36 interpretative codes and then to 8 explanatory codes. Finally, four fundamental constructs of structural factors, personal factors, caring institutions and social networks were identified.

Conclusion: The experiences of the participants showed that although individual factors are important and could influence suicide prevention, the structural and socio-cultural contexts which are out of individuals control are significant as well.