The Adjustment of a Family With an Elderly Suicide Attemtper

• Main Authors: Chen, Jui-Chin, 陳瑞金
• Other Authors: Cheng, Wan-Min
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2009
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/48170299062288274349

碩士 === 國立臺中教育大學 === 諮商與應用心理學系碩士班 === 97 === The purpose of this study was to understand the related factors of th elderly’s suicide, the stress that the suicide attempter’s family encountered, and their corresponding adjustment. Based on qualitative research orientation, the researcher interviewed the attempter’s family with semi-structure outline of interview. Collected data included interview records, medical records and field notes, and the researcher analyzed them and constructed integrated results as following: The suicide attempter suffered from hypertension, diabetes, and chronic renal failure. Two months before committing suicide, she was sent to the emergency room several times due to poor blood pressure control, headache and sleeplessness. Her family persuaded her to take medicine regularly and to have dietary restrictions, but it failed. It caused quarrels with the family living together and brought isolation to the suicide attempter. So she turned to her daughters and neighbors for consolation. The suicide attempter knew she might need dialysis when she saw a doctor; she was over-pessimistic about the future and did not want to be a burden of her family. Then she drank pesticide which was available in countryside to commit suicide. When the index suicide attempt occurred, the most stressful for the family was to save the suicide attempter’s life. After she was discharged from hospital and was diagnosed dysthymic disorder, the family worried that she might commit suicide again. The family adjusted to the mentioned pressure by cooperating with doctors, telling her dialysis was unnecessary to comfort her, persuading her to accept dialysis, asking her to consider her offspring suffering the suicide stigma, keeping her under surveillance and taking care of her mood. However, she did not diet and evoked family arguments again, and her children wrangled about how to take care of her. The family gived up restraining the suicide attempter’s diet after six months wrangles. The suicide attempter was stigmatized weak by the neighbor. In addition to worrying the harmful effect of stigmatization and social isolation to her, her descendants had to endure continuous query about the suicide event and they were strongly suspected of their filial piety. Their adjustment included advising the suicide attempter to interact with neighbors, developing kinds of statements for the suicide event, following the inner value of the individual, and seeking support from family and friends. Also, some suggestions are made based on the findings of this study.