Mapping Character, Setting, and Script: Clinical Applications of Narrative Identity in Suicide Prevention

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Mental Health Care
• Psychology

Background:

• Suicide risk assessment often overlooks identity crises, focusing on safety and symptoms.
• Suicidal despair can lead to a fractured sense of self, belonging, and future.
• Existing models may not fully capture the narrative dimensions of suicide risk.

Purpose of the Study:

• Introduce the Character-Setting-Script (CSS) framework for nursing and mental health care.
• Provide a narrative identity model to map suicide risk.
• Enhance therapeutic engagement and cultural responsiveness in suicide prevention.

Main Methods:

• Drawing from existential theory and narrative psychology.
• Mapping suicide risk across three clinical domains: Character, Setting, and Script.
• Utilizing a narrative identity model tailored for clinical practice.

Main Results:

• The CSS model identifies early signs of narrative collapse.
• Facilitates story-based interventions for individuals experiencing suicidal despair.
• Supports nurses in understanding the patient's subjective experience of self and future.

Conclusions:

• The CSS framework reframes suicide prevention as a relational and narrative act.
• It aids in re-authoring meaning, coherence, and possibility for individuals at risk.
• Promotes a more holistic and humanistic approach to suicide care in nursing.