Captivity in the dead-end of life; the lived experiences of male drug users who have attempted suicide

ABSTRACT

Objective

The present study explains the lived experiences of male drug users who have attempted suicide

Methodology

This study draws on a qualitative research method, namely Hermeneutic Phenomenology. The study uses purposive sampling and analyzes the data using the seven-stage process proposed by Diekelmann and colleagues.

Results

The lived experiences of the participants give rise to two themes. The first theme, “Ineffective coping strategies,” with three subthemes, i.e., “Not getting rid of suffering,” “Surrender to despair,” and “Poor problem-solving skills.” The second theme, namely the “Lack of social support,” with two subthemes of “Lack of support from family and friends” and “Lack of support from government and other organizations.” Moreover, this study establishes a constitutive pattern entitled “Captivity in the dead-end of life.”

Conclusion

This study aimed to explain the lived experiences of male drug users who have attempted suicide. The constitutive pattern of this study is formed from the collection of themes and subthemes previously discussed, and valuable results were indicated in this community with its special needs. The study recommends due attention to life skills training, levels of prevention, Psychotherapeutic interventions and social support from policy-makers and decision-makers in physical and mental health at the individual, family, and society levels.

KEYWORDS:

• Lived experience
• drug use
• suicide attempt

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Correction

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article was originally published with errors, which have now been corrected in the online version. Please see Correction (http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14659891.2022.2163083)

Additional information

Funding

The authors reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.