What Interrupts Suicide Attempts in Men: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Despite higher rates of suicide in men, there is a dearth of research examining the perspectives and experiences of males at risk of suicide, particularly in terms of understanding how interventions can be tailored to men’s specific needs. The current study aimed to examine factors assisting, complicating or inhibiting interventions for men at risk, as well as outlining the roles of family, friends and others in male suicide prevention. Thirty-five male suicide survivors completed one-to-one interviews, and forty-seven family and friends of male suicide survivors participated in eight focus groups. Thematic analysis revealed five major themes: (1) development of suicidal behaviours tends to follow a common path associated with specific types of risk factors (disrupted mood, unhelpful stoic beliefs and values, avoidant coping strategies, stressors), (2) men at risk of suicide tend to systematically misinterpret changes in their behaviour and thinking, (3) understanding mood and behavioural changes in men enables identification of opportunities to interrupt suicide progression, (4) distraction, provision of practical and emotional supports, along with professional intervention may effectively interrupt acute risk of harm, and (5) suicidal ideation may be reduced through provision of practical help to manage crises, and helping men to focus on obligations and their role within families. Findings suggest that interventions for men at risk of suicidal behaviours need to be tailored to specific risk indicators, developmental factors, care needs and individuals’ preferences. To our knowledge this is the first qualitative study to explore the experiences of both suicidal men and their family/friends after a suicide attempt, with the view to improve understanding of the processes which are effective in interrupting suicide and better inform interventions for men at risk.

Signs of current suicidality in men: A systematic review

“…Two qualitative studies both found that anger, calmness and direct statements of suicide intent were signs associated with suicide attempt in the near future [45,46]. Rivlin et al [46]also identified depression, feeling upset, relief, indirect or ambiguous references to taking their own life, and making arrangements and planning for death as commonly experienced signs associated with planning and preparing a suicide attempt.…”

“…Rivlin et al [46]also identified depression, feeling upset, relief, indirect or ambiguous references to taking their own life, and making arrangements and planning for death as commonly experienced signs associated with planning and preparing a suicide attempt. Player et al[45] reported aggression, apathy, hopelessness, and excessive risk taking were associated with suicide attempt.…”

“…Multiple studies identified anger as a suicide sign associated with suicide attempts among men [31,45,46]. A paucity of problem solutions was associated with suicidal ideation [38], but also associated with death by suicide among men[33,42].…”

“…This is evident through the number of studies in this review that used retrospective interviews with informants on suicide attempters and decedents to identify signs of suicide [33,34,42,45]. Recent research has found that there are consistent patterns in types of presenting features considered by helpers to indicate imminent suicide risk.…”

Associations among Substance Use, Mental Health Disorders, and Self-Harm in a Prison Population: Examining Group Risk for Suicide Attempt

“…Men had greater odds for attempting suicide compared to women, which was unexpected. Investigations with non-imprisoned individuals have found that men are less likely to attempt suicide [48,49], but have greater odds for completing suicide compared to women [49]. This finding is surprising, since women in this DOC were significantly more likely to have a mental health disorders, p < 0.0001, OR = 1.4, 95% CI [1.3, 1.6], which are known risk factors for suicide attempts.…”