Case Studies in Suicide

Losing a loved one to suicide must surely rank as one of life's most painful experiences. Nearly one million people die by suicide globally each year. Suicide is one of the top ten leading causes of death across all age groups (Dialogues in clinical neuroscience, 2012). In the course, “Supporting Clients at Risk of Suicide”, we aimed to identify warning signs that someone may be suicidal, assess the person's risk of suicide, and identify the most effective methods of response to client suicide risk. Sometimes the suicide goes ahead, despite the best efforts of mental health helpers and well-meaning friends and family. In this case, there are suicide-bereaved people, who need support. Techniques for helping them are found in the course, “Supporting the Suicide-Bereaved.” This course, “Case Studies in Suicide”, aims to deepen your understanding of suicide and suicide bereavement by illustrating for you what confronts survivors in real-life cases of suicidal intentions, suicide, and its aftermath. Going through the course, you will hear how bereavement is for Lana, whose husband commits suicide. You will read about Grant's re-adjustment to regular life after the military and his despairing attempts at suicide. The third case study is about Eleanor, who tries to commit suicide when she is bereaved by her daughter's suicide. All of the stories paint drab and disheartening details onto the canvas of suicide and suicide attempts. For each case, we tell you the story, pose some questions for reflection, and then offer our analysis in response to the questions posed. As always with our case studies, we recommend that you spend time seriously engaging with the questions before reading our analysis, as in this way you interact with the analysis from a greater depth of understanding. We analyse the cases in the context of material presented in the Suicide Risk and Supporting the Suicide Bereaved courses, so it is essential for you to have mastered the content of those courses before you begin going through this one. Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to: Gain a deeper understanding of suicide and suicide bereavement by analysing what confronts survivors in real-life cases of suicidal intentions, suicide, and its aftermath.