Hearing the Suicidal Patient's Emotional Pain

Area of Science:

• Mental Health
• Psychiatry
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• Emotional pain is a key factor in suicidal ideation.
• Current clinical practice rarely assesses emotional pain in suicidal patients.
• Lack of research on communication dynamics between suicidal patients and healthcare staff regarding emotional pain.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify factors that hinder or help suicidal patients communicate their emotional pain to mental health professionals.
• To understand the patient-provider communication in the context of suicide risk.
• To explore facilitators and inhibitors of emotional pain disclosure.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative study involving interviews with 9 patients with a history of medically serious suicide attempts.
• Focus group interviews conducted with 26 mental health (NHS) staff.
• Development of a typological model based on interview data.

Main Results:

• A model was developed illustrating four communication permutations: unspoken/unheard, spoken/unheard, spoken/heard, and unspoken/heard.
• Identified 14 subthemes of impediments and facilitators, including misaligned, alienated, and co-bearing communication patterns.
• Patients may use multiple communication strategies, with some fearing that open communication leads to less serious consideration of their pain.

Conclusions:

• Communication of emotional pain in suicidal patients is influenced by numerous factors, leading to it being missed or ignored.
• Healthcare professionals' responses significantly impact whether patient communication is heard or dismissed.
• The developed model offers insights to enhance the care and communication strategies for patients at risk of suicide.