Tímarit hjúkrunarfræðinga - 2024, Qupperneq 46

Challenging life experience and complicated grief: Surviving the suicide of a son or daughter
ENGLISH SUMMARY
Challenging life experience and complicated grief:
Surviving the suicide of a son or daughter
Bjornsdottir, E. A., Sigurdardottir, S., Halldorsdottir, S.
ABSRTAKT
Aim
Suicide is a global health problem and the fourth most common
cause of death in the 15-29 age group. Parents’ experience of
losing a son or daughter to suicide has not been researched
much in Iceland. The purpose of the study was to explore parents’
experience of losing a daughter or son to suicide and the support
available to parents afterwards.
Method
In this phenomenological study, 13 interviews were conducted
with 10 parents, seven mothers and three fathers, who had lost a
son or daughter, aged 17-37, to suicide.
Results
For the parents, the suicide was a challenging life experience,
followed by a complex grief. All but one of the participants’ sons
and daughters had pre-suicide difficulties such as suicidal ideation,
self-injurious behaviour and suicide attempts. The suicide still
caught all the parents by surprise and caused a major trauma.
Numbness set in and they struggled with daily life, lost appetite,
sleep, short-term memory, balance, grounding, and touch with
reality. All of them experienced complex feelings such as guilt and
self-blame, and the trauma took a toll on their mental and physical
health, where anxiety, depression and pain were prominent. Grief
processing was long-lasting, and support was of different calibre
and it was largely up to the parents themselves to seek support
if spiritual and/or pastoral care failed or did not last long enough.
Parents expressed disappointment regarding the healthcare
system because no assessment of their needs for support or
resources was conductedh.
Conclusions
The healthcare services must have standard operating procedures
for parents who lose a son or daughter to suicide. Parents in these
situations need someone to guide them through the grief, offer
support, and provide information about long-term resources. The
healthcare system could take on a leadership role in this area in
consultation with those concerned.
Keywords
Suicide, parents, bereavement, grief, trauma, phenomenology.
Correspondent
elinardis92@gmail.com