Disconnection, reconnection and autonomy: four young South African men’s experience of attempting suicide

ABSTRACT

Although young men are considered to be at particular risk of completing suicide in South Africa, very little is known about the reasons for this, or the way in which young men understand their own suicidal behaviour. In this study we set out to explore and describe the subjective experiences of four young South African men who had previously attempted suicide. Interviews were conducted and transcripts were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Participants’ accounts of suicidal behaviour revealed a struggle for relatedness and autonomy. Two major themes were identified: (1) ‘Turning away from others and self’, which describes how participants disconnect from close others and from self, prior to attempting suicide as an act of autonomy; and (2) ‘Returning to self and others’, which describes the process of healing and recovery from being suicidal through re-connecting with others and gaining a healthy sense of autonomy. The findings are discussed using the framework of autonomy-relatedness proposed by Kagitcibasi.

KEYWORDS:

• Suicide attempt
• relatedness
• autonomy
• men
• South Africa

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.