Silenced voices: hearing the stories of parents bereaved through the suicide death of a young adult child

Abstract

The current paper reports findings from a qualitative research project that aimed to explore parents' experiences following the suicide death of their young adult child. Twenty-two Australian parents told of the suicide death of their son or daughter during the data collection period (2003 to late 2004). One narrative theme drawn from the interview data is reported here: the way in which suicide-bereaved parents feel unable to talk about their child's life and death, their experience of suicide and their resultant bereavement. Parents reported being silenced by others and silencing themselves in relation to talking about their bereavement. Parents' private stories are used to explain the difficulties they faced given the contemporary social and cultural context of grief and suicide. Then follows an examination of the impact these difficulties had on their ongoing grief narrative and availability of social support. Implications for health and social care intervention are presented to assist in better preparing support workers in their interactions with parents bereaved in this manner.

Events Prior to Completed Suicide: Perspectives of Family Survivors

“…Therefore strategies to support and understand those affected are integral to suicide prevention. In providing appropriate care to survivors it is crucial that health professionals acknowledge that grief experienced after suicide may be more intense, complex, and prolonged than grief due to other losses (Cvinar, 2005;Jordan, 2008;Maple, Edwards, Plummer, & Minichiello, 2010). Also, due to the exceptionally traumatic and stigmatising nature of suicide, communication between the bereaved and service providers may be laden with tension, resulting in less than optimal relationships (Botha, Guilfoyle, & Botha, 2009).…”

The Lifekeeper Memory Quilt: Evaluation of a Suicide Postvention Program

“…The importance of suicide survivors being understood and accepted is emphasized in previous research that has found that they experience greater levels of societal rejection than those bereaved by other causes of death, which further complicates their grief (Cvinar, 2005;Maple, Edwards, Plummer, & Minichiello, 2010;Sveen & Walby, 2008). Resonating with a study by McMenamy, Jordan, and Mitchell (2008), participants of the Quilt project described feeling connected with others and appreciated the opportunity to share the stories of their loved ones in a nonjudgmental environment.…”

Stigma po artimojo savižudybės

“…Kiek vėliau moteris kalba apie baimes, kylančias galvojant apie socialines sąveikas ("<…> aš net bijodavau į parduotuvę išeit, kad jie visi mato, kad taip atsitiko" (7:63)). Kiti tyrimai taip pat rodo, kad neigiamos nuostatos nusižudžiusiųjų artimųjų atžvilgiu gali dar labiau padidinti jų kaltės išgyvenimus, pabloginti savijautą (Minamizono, Motohashi, Yamaji, & Kaneko, 2008;Maple et al, 2010). Tyrimo dalyvių pasakojimuose minimos ir aplinkinių apkalbos, savižudybės priežasčių ieškojimas, kaltinimas.…”