Existential themes in the treatment of people at suicide risk. Understandings and practices of specialist healthcare professionals

ABSTRACT

This qualitative study focuses on the ways in which existential themes were understood and addressed in therapeutic relationships with patients who had attempted suicide. Health care professionals (HCP) from Norway specialist healthcare participated in focus groups. The interviews were transcribed and analysed by systematic text-condensation through a four-step procedure. We found that the HCPs emphasised the context-specific functions of their departments. They considered these conversations essential but demanding. They indicated existential themes of hope/hopelessness, loneliness, meaning, life/death, shame, religion and suicide. The HCPs’ understandings of themes deemed to be existential and how they should be addressed were primarily based on clinical experience. This appeared to exacerbate the pressure on their personal involvement, leading to the question of whether patients’ existential needs are tackled or instead disappear into a conversational vacuum. The study suggests that HCPs' professional competence of existential themes pertaining to patients at suicide risk needs to be strengthened.

KEYWORDS:

• Existential themes
• patients at suicide risk
• conversation
• understandings
• specialist healthcare professionals
• practice

Acknowledgement

The authors wish to thank the participants for their willingness to spend their time and share their reflections and knowledge in relation to this project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The present study was funded by Innlandet Hospital Trust (grant number #150318).