Do Current Suicide Prevention Policies Neglect Suicide Survivors?

Abstract

The emphasis placed on mental illness by policy makers and researchers to explain suicide in order to prevent it is both unwise and leads to adverse outcomes. For example, the flaws of conventional suicide prevention policies include incorrect and misleading suicide statistics such as the repudiated and discredited claims that 80%-90% of suicides had depression, the majority of suicide cases had mental illness, and that talking about suicide will lead to more suicide. Such false claims lead to erroneous decisions such restricting reporting and public discussion of suicide, and the sharp increase in anti-depressant prescription, e.g. in New Zealand anti-depressants prescriptions quadrupled between 2001 and 2012 with no impacts on suicide trends over the same period. There has been very little or no public conversation around suicide and its prevention, making suicide taboo. Therefore, there is a lack of confidence and experience in the population to deal with suicidal behaviour. As a result, there is an absence of public engagement with suicide survivors (family and friends of the suicide case). This paper reports on the experiences of a group of suicide survivors (parents and siblings) following the suicide of a loved one which has led to isolation, the internalization of grief and hindered the healing process.

Youths’ attitudes toward open discussion of suicide, preferred contexts, and the impact of Internet use: An exploratory sequential mixed-methods study in Hong Kong

“…Promotion of public discussion about suicide may reconstruct the descriptive and prescriptive norms associated with emotional coping, leading to the establishment of ‘new standards’ in society. The policy of ‘keeping suicide discussions out of the public domain’ has been criticized for impeding the replacement of outdated social norms (Shahtahmasebi, 2016), and ‘the need to initiate a dialog about suicide’ has emerged as a major theme in north American articles (Carmichael & Whitley, 2019). Open discussion of suicide has also been involved as a crucial element in suicide prevention programs for young people, whilst it remains unclear whether the idea resonates with audiences (Ftanou et al, 2017).…”

Luto Parental: A Experiência De Pais/Mães Em Casos De Mortes Por Suicídio

“…Corroborando com esse resultado, na pesquisa realizada por Shahtahmasebi (2016), foi constatado que as mães se preocuparam com o impacto do suicídio no restante da família e assumiram um papel central para manter a família unida. Assim, o luto parental também é impactado pelo luto de outros familiares e amigos e atravessado pela preocupação com os outros membros da família.…”

“…Então, além de lidar com o próprio luto, os pais precisam cuidar dos lutos dos filhos sobreviventes(Kochen et al, 2020).Já os participantes Daniel e Marcelo trouxeram os novos papéis que assumiram nas vidas de outros familiares, nos cuidados com o irmão mais velho e com a mãe. Alguns familiares se preocuparam com o impacto do suicídio no restante da família e assumiram um papel central com a intenção de manter a família unida(Shahtahmasebi, 2016), como foi Nas falas dos participantes, foi evidenciada uma mudança na forma de se relacionar com outras pessoas, fora do grupo familiar, e com situações cotidianas da vida. Bogensperger e Lueger-Schuster (2014), em seu estudo com pais enlutados, elencaram consequências consideradas benéficas, de acordo com os sujeitos participantes, após a morte de um filho, Aí eu falei assim, pensei "ah, não é comigo.…”