Teen Suicide Attempt: The Subjective Experience of the Family

Abstract

This study aimed to understand the impact of a teenage child’s suicide attempt at a family level, based on the subjective experience of the family as a whole. A qualitative study based on an hour and a half interview with the entire family was performed within two weeks of the suicide attempt. Ten adolescents hospitalized in a psychiatric unit of a Health Service of the Metropolitan Region, in Chile, and their families, were interviewed. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and analyzed using the Grounded Theory methodology. Three major categories emerge from the analysis: Process Vision, Family Dynamics and Hospitalization Experience. Families perceive a before and after of the suicide attempt in the subsequent evolution of the family system. Changes occur in the way they ‘read’ the experiences and signs prior to the suicide attempt, in the understanding of what happened, and in the transformations of the relational dynamics as a consequence. Family resilience will depend on their history and how they have learned to cope with difficulties. Although one of the most recurrent reports regarding the suicide attempt refers to the traumatic component that it had in all the family members, they also state that this event has meant great learning as a family and an opportunity to grow, to get to know each other better and help each other. The benefits for the family of having a safe space to talk about how they feel and elaborate on what happened, without fear of being judged, has been highlighted. This enhance the need to incorporate the family as a whole when we think about an adolescent suicide attempt, both in understanding the phenomenon and in intervention and treatment.