Uncovering and Identifying the Missing Voices in Suicide Bereavement
The field of suicide postvention remains relatively immature in terms of the current knowledge base. This manuscript examines the existing knowledge regarding suicide bereavement and describes the limitations of the suicide bereavement knowledge base using a critical review of the literature specifically relating to suicide bereavement published in the previous 10 years. Six limitations are identified in the literature: concern about samples used in research, sampling only people who have been help-seeking, women being overrepresented in studies, additional design issues including limitations by research ethics boards, definitional problems in who is suicide bereaved, and determining the size of the population bereaved by suicides. This is followed by a discussion of the need to define the suicide bereaved population, as well as understand the effect of suicide bereavement. The paper closes with suggestions for future directions that are required in the field of suicide bereavement in order to best understand and help those people left behind in the wake of suicide deaths.
Life, death and the experience of suicide and accidental death bereavement for Australia's rural farming families
Rural farming families constitute a heterogeneous slice of Australia's population, frequently existing in unique psychological, social and geographical contexts, and subject to numerous heightened mortality risks including suicide and accidental death. Despite efforts to measure and understand such deaths, there is a dearth of knowledge on how such incidents affect those remaining. This thesis aimed to understand how Australian farming families live and die and how they experience suicide and/or accidental death, the following questions were posed: (1) Who are Australia's farming families? How do they live? How do they die? (2) How do farming family members experience loss following suicide and accidental death? (3) How does the farming family context influence this bereavement?
'Young Men Being Real': Perceptions and Responsibilities of the Peer Educators in Alive and Kicking Goals!
In the Kimberley region of northern-Western Australia, suicide is an issue which not only deeply impacts upon many communities but also requires prevention initiatives appropriate to its unique cultures and place. Alive & Kicking Goals! (AKG) is a community-based and community-driven grass-roots suicide awareness and prevention program. One of AKG's strengths is its Peer Educators - young Aboriginal men and women who run workshops grounded in their own positively-framed and local DVD.
Suicide amongst people with intellectual disability: An Australian online study of disability support staff experiences and perceptions
Background Individuals with intellectual disability (ID) have a higher likelihood of exposure to identified risk factors for suicide when compared with the general community and have been recognised as being both capable of forming intent for suicide and acting on this intent. However, in spite of research outlining these concerns from the 1970s, there remains a dearth of studies that examine suicide amongst the population of people with ID. Method An online cross-sectional survey was purposively developed, with questions aimed at identifying both the experiences and current practices of support staff who assist people with ID in relation to suicide, suicidal behaviour and suicide assessment. It was undertaken across both rural and metropolitan areas in Australia. The survey was open for a period of 12 months. A total of 139 respondents (109 female/30 male), with a mean age of 41 and an average 12 years of experience in supporting people with ID, completed the tool. Results A total of nine suicides by people with ID were reported. Seventy-seven per cent of the respondents reported that they had individuals with ID display suicidal behaviours, and 76% noted that a person had specifically talked about wishing to end their life. Only four participants (3%) noted that they did not support individuals with a dual diagnosis of ID and mental health concern. Sixty per cent of participants reported that no one in their organisation had ever completed a suicide risk assessment, and only 28% reported that they would do a suicide risk assessment if an individual that they supported was diagnosed with a mental health issue. Conclusions The current findings indicate that support staff recognise the capacity of people with ID to conceptualise suicide, note the existence of suicidal discussions and behaviours and report on actual suicides. This represents one of the few Australian studies that has specifically considered suicide amongst this cohort of people and reinforces the fact that suicide is not unknown in this population. The data indicate a possible divide between the reports of people with ID actively talking about and acting on suicidal thoughts and the lack of any proactive use of any tools to assess for this risk.
Women and suicide: beyond the gender paradox
Traditionally, suicide research has focused on male mortality, with little attention paid to the female experience of suicide. This means there has been a lack of research examining how female suicide rates and behaviours have changed over time and between countries. Through an exploration of the World Health Organisation Statistical Information System (WHOSIS) data, this paper aims to analyse changes in the trends of female suicide across the period 1950 to 2009 in 106 countries. Observed changes in female suicidal behaviours are discussed in the context of 12 geographical and cultural areas of the world: Africa, Anglo-Saxon countries, the Western Pacific, the Baltic States, Central and Eastern Europe, Eastern Mediterranean countries, Scandinavia, South America, South East Asia, Southern Europe and Western Europe. By seeking understanding as to how suicidal behaviours are gendered within specific cultures and societies and by unpacking the Gender Paradox using Cultural Scripts Theory, this paper explores some possible culturally relevant explanations for female suicide rates and behaviours worthy of future research attention. Analysing the data and its limitations, and acknowledging its place within social and cultural constructs, allows for better understanding of the fatal female suicidal behaviour.
Suicide Prevention in Australian Aboriginal Communities: A Review of Past and Present Programs
A review of Aboriginal suicide prevention programs were conducted to highlight promising projects and strategies. A content analysis of gray literature was conducted to identify interventions reported to have an impact in reducing suicidal rates and behaviors. Most programs targeted the whole community and were delivered through workshops, cultural activities, or creative outlets. Curriculums included suicide risk and protective factors, warning signs, and mental health. Many programs were poorly documented and evaluations did not include suicidal outcomes. Most evaluations considered process variables. Results from available outcome evaluations suggest that employing a whole of community approach and focusing on connectedness, belongingness and cultural heritage may be of benefit. Despite the challenges, there is a clear need to evaluate outcomes if prevention is to be progressed.
Understanding the lived experiences of people bereaved by suicide: Who speaks to researchers and what do they say?
This presentation will focus on: • Analysis of research literature to determine where suicide bereavement knowledge has been generated from • The limitations of the current literature • Suggestions for future directions that are required in the field of suicide bereavement
Suicide prevention for men
The ways in which suicide prevention initiatives can target different stages of the suicidal process have been described by Mann et al. (2005). These authors argue that suicidal ideation may stem from stressful life events and/or psychiatric disorders. These factors can be influenced through education and awareness programs, screening of individuals at risk, and various treatments. However, it must be noted that while the impacts of environmental factors, such as stressful life events, can sometimes be reduced, the events themselves may be unavoidable. Aspects of suicide prevention can focus on building resilience as a way to combat the impacts of these inevitable events. Once suicidal ideation is present, it can be detected by screening individuals at risk. Before ideation leads to a suicidal act, it can be targeted through treating issues such as underlying disorders and impulsivity, hopelessness and/or pessimism. Other suicide prevention initiatives may also limit access to suicide means and exposure to negative or harmful examples in the media. Australia was the one of the first countries to reflect upon the national and global evidence which recognised the devastating consequences of suicidal behaviours (Jenkins and Kovess, 2002; Department of Health and Ageing, 2008). Since the early 1990s, the Department of Health and Ageing has led the national approach for suicide prevention. The National Youth Suicide Prevention Strategy 1995-1999 was further expanded into the National Suicide Prevention Strategy (NSPS); a strategic plan to prevent suicide across the whole lifespan. In 2000, the Living Is For Everyone: A Framework for Prevention of Suicide and Self-harm in Australia (LIFE Framework) was launched. This was later evaluated and further development led to the release of the Living is For Everyone (LIFE) Framework (2007).
Bella's Passion: Romanticising Suicide and Demonising Sex in 'Twilight'
The 'Twilight' Saga is a worldwide phenomenon, inspiring Twihards of all ages into breathless endorsements of its apparently ageless romance. While media critiques have focused on questionable literary skills and the obsession it has inspired in its fans, few have examined the idolization of a female heroine so passive in her initial acceptance of death and so active in her desire to die in order to be a good woman to Edward. Bella's see-sawing between active and passive suicidality corresponds with the manner in which her sexual desires are conceptualised in terms of insatiability and denial. Only allowed fulfillment of her sexual desires after marriage, Bella's sexual passions then become reframed into physical violence, exemplified by the bruises she rejoices in finding inscribed along her body. This violence extends into a pregnancy that inevitably kills her - a fulfillment of her desire throughout the novels. Rather than kill her own body, which would harm the baby, she allows the baby to kill her - and Edward to save her by turning her into a vampire. Beneath this narrative lies a desire for death that is romanticized by the fact that Bella does not die at all - she becomes immortal. It is important to dissect the trajectory of the language Bella uses to conceptualise and articulate death, sex, and love throughout the novels. This will illustrate the frightening ease with which a modern romantic idol is stripped of her agency and self-value in a way that denies her sexual desire but encourages her desire to die.
Researchers who walk with Communities: How is Innovative Research Theory turned into Positive Research Practice?
They ways in which researchers have sought greater understanding of suicide among Indigenous populations throughout the world continues to be debated for its appropriateness and rigor. However, it is becoming apparent that this debate is not, and should not be, simply about methods used in research but about the ways in which research is approached as a whole. This reflective study aimed to unpack the epistemological and methodological traditions which have long underpinned suicide research.