Results (
Thai) 2:
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The need for a friendly environment emerged in the findings of the
current study. Participants stated that they felt people were friendly
when others accepted them. Further, they expressed that they had
attempted suicide because they thought they had ‘failed in life’, ‘that
life was meaningless’ and they could not ‘accept’ themselves at this
period of time. Consequently, when they felt accepted by others, this
helped them to accept themselves. These findings corroborate those
of Wiklander et al. (2003), who reported that the suicide patients in
their study who experienced hospital personnel as being kind,
nonjudgmental, and respectful seemed more able to transform their
feelings of shame and were more able to accept themselves. However,
some earlier studies noted that some health professionals adopt
judgmental attitudes towards people who repeat suicide attempts or
who used non-lethal methods to attempt suicide, such as drug
overdosing or wrist cutting (Bailey, 1994; Ramon, 1980; Suokas &
Lonnqvist, 1989). Health professionals play an important role in
caring for people who are at risk of suicide. Therefore, it is
fundamental for all health professionals to espouse caring and
empathic attitudes towards individuals who attempt and re-attempt
regardless of method chosen. More education is needed on suicide,
suicide prevention and care (Brunero, Smith, Bates, & Fairbrother,
2008; Chan, Chien, & Tso, 2008; Sun, Long, Huang, & Chiang, 2011).
The participants in this study stated that their recovery was a long
and difficult journey and that, at times, they wanted to give up when
they suffered painful life experiences, or when their mental disorder
became unstable. Therefore, people who attempted suicide need
support networks from a range of people who can help them
overcome, or cope with their situation and reduce their stress. The
evidence in the current study demonstrated that healthy support
systems facilitate the healing process. Most of participants in this
study received support from their family and friends and from mental
health professionals. However, people who want to recover from their
suicide attempts should also seek support from social groups because
increased social support has been found to reduce suicide attempts
(McLean et al., 2008; You, Van Orden, & Conner, 2010). Moreover, in
the current study, participants explained that they received support
from their religion because their religious beliefs generally discouraged
suicide and because they received support from the congregation.
These findings support those of McLean et al. (2008); Molock,
Puri, Matlin, and Barksdale (2006) and Robins and Fiske (2009).
Conversely, some participants complained that they experienced
some painful experiences that impeded the healing process. Examples
were inner psyche-problems, family problems and environmental
problems such as financial problems. Another major problem that
impeded the healing process was that some of the participants
reduced, or stopped taking their medication especially when their
condition improved. They wanted to prove to themselves that they
had completely recovered from their depression and their suicide
attempt. However, their conditions deteriorated when they took these
actions with their medications. These findings corroborate those of
Simon and Savarino (2007), who explored the time patterns of suicide
attempts among outpatients starting depression treatment with
medication or psychotherapy. Findings demonstrated that the
incidence of suicide attempts was highest in the month before
starting treatment and next highest in the month after starting
treatment. Thereafter, the incidence levels declined. The importance
of patients being educated about their medication ramifications is
paramount. Further, following discharge from hospital patient should
be followed-up in the community to ensure that they are taking their
medications as prescribed.
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