Challenging the Myth of “Attention Seeking” Women with Suicidality: A Grounded Theory Study about Applying Counter-Pressure to Manage System Entrapment

Abstract

Some women who express suicidal intent and engage in non-lethal self-harm perceive that nurses and other health care workers label them as attention-seeking and manipulative. An understanding of women’s help-seeking behaviors that challenges suicide myths is presented. The purpose of this study was to examine help-seeking for suicidality in women with histories of intimate partner violence using a multiple qualitative research design of grounded theory and photovoice. Women from New Brunswick, Canada, over the age of 19 who left an abusive partner (n = 32) were interviewed and seven local women from this sample participated in five photovoice group sessions where they collectively examined self-generated photos of their experiences. Transcripts of the interviews and group sessions were analyzed using the constant comparative approach, yielding a theoretical rendering of women’s help seeking. Results include a process of Applying Counter-Pressure as a way of pushing back against System Entrapment, or the sense of being invalidated and dehumanized by health care providers with the goal to Feel Human. Findings provide an understanding of women’s behavior when seeking help for suicidality and may reduce nurses’ assumptions and judgments when providing care. Trauma and violence informed care provides a framework from which to guide interventions that acknowledge the role of past and ongoing trauma in women’s lives, supporting nurses’ capacity to be validating and helping women to continue living.

Acknowledgments

Thank you to my research committee: Lynne Duffy, PhD, RN; Ronald Weed, PhD; and Judith Wuest, PhD, RN, University of New Brunswick, Canada

Declaration of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to research participant privacy.

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.