É possível superar ideações e tentativas de suicídio? Um estudo sobre idosos

Suicide and suicide attempts by the elderly in film: related factors as shown in feature films

“…In Brazil, a study with 20 elderly people who attempted suicide and began to overcome the impulse to take their own lives, identified coping strategies based on five nuclei: religiosity and religious practices; social and family support; support of health services; contact with pets (as observed in Umberto D) and resumption of the autonomy to manage one's life 13 .…”

“…Religiosity exercises a function of protection, and comfort and offers answers to the adversities of life, as well as creating possibilities of interaction with others, when shared at community events. Support from religion, or a relationship with God, regardless of association with religious practices, is mentioned as fundamental to overcoming suicidal thoughts 13 . Religious institutions are also environments where new relationships and the learning of new activities arise, encouraging occupancy of time and the departure from places that represent suffering and, thus, enabling the reassuming of the capacity to make decisions, allowing focus to be shifted from the zone of discomfort and discontent represented by their problems, to new life projects 15 .…”

“…Improved health helps them to think about new life plans, which is fundamental for maintaining good self-esteem 13 .…”

“…The individual-animal relationship is perhaps more intense and profound in old age than in any other life cycle, 27 and thus the affective attachment of the elderly person with suicidal behavior towards a pet facilitates the overcoming of death wishes 13 . Faced with family distancing and loneliness, attachment to pets, as in Umberto D, stands out as a resumption of functional capacity -caring, not only being careful, feeling useful and loved, as well as filling the time.…”

“…In another study, the elderly described how they are received in health services as important, particularly in Centros de Atenção Psicossocial (Psychosocial Care Centers) (CAPS), identified as appropriate spaces for the provision of integral care for people with psychic suffering and a death wish 13 .…”