Healing and recovering after a suicide attempt: a grounded theory study

To explore the healing and recovery process following a suicide attempt over 12 months ago.

Literature has explored the process leading up to attempted suicide. However, there is a lack of information exploring the healing and recovery process after a suicide attempt.

Qualitative research using the grounded theory approach.

Data were collected during 2010-2011 from the psychiatric outpatient's centre in Taiwan. Interviews were conducted with people who had attempted suicide more than 12 months prior to data collection and had not reattempted since that time (n = 14). Constant comparison analysis was used to scrutinise the data.

Findings demonstrated that healing and recovering evolved in five phases: (1) self-awareness: gained self-awareness of their responsibilities in life and their fear of death; (2) the inter-relatedness of life: awareness of the need to seek help from professionals, friends and family for support; (3) the cyclical nature of human emotions: reappearance of stressors and activators causing psyche disharmony; (4) adjustment: changes in adjustment patterns of behaviour, discovering and owning one's own unique emotions, deflecting attention from stressors and facing reality and (5) acceptance: accepting the reality of life and investing in life.

The healing and recovery process symbolises an emotional navigation wheel. While each phase might follow the preceding phase, it is not a linear process, and patients might move backwards and forwards through the phases depending on the nursing interventions they receive coupled with their motivation to heal. It is important for nurses to use advanced communication skills to enable them to co-travel therapeutically with patients.

Listening to patients' voices and analysing their healing and recovery process could serve as a reference for psychiatric nurses to use to inform therapeutic interventions.