IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i10p5209-d554350.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Male Experience of Suicide Attempts and Recovery: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Cara Richardson

    (Institute of Health & Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 0XH, UK)

  • Adele Dickson

    (Centre for Applied Behavioural Sciences (CABS), Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, UK)

  • Kathryn A. Robb

    (Institute of Health & Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 0XH, UK)

  • Rory C. O’Connor

    (Institute of Health & Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 0XH, UK)

Abstract

Suicidal behaviour is a complex phenomenon—its aetiology spans biological, psychological, environmental, social and cultural facets. Men’s deaths by suicide outnumber women in every country in the world. This study explored the male experience of suicide attempts and recovery as well as factors which may be protective for men. Men (n = 12) participated in semi-structured face-to-face interviews which were subjected to Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Four master themes were identified: (1) “characteristics of attempt/volitional factors”, (2) “dealing with suicidal thoughts and negative emotions”, (3) “aftermath” and (4) “protective factors”. The theoretical and clinical implications of this study are discussed, including help seeking, emotional expression, the long-term impact of suicide attempt as well as the applied contribution to established theories.

Suggested Citation

  • Cara Richardson & Adele Dickson & Kathryn A. Robb & Rory C. O’Connor, 2021. "The Male Experience of Suicide Attempts and Recovery: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-15, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:10:p:5209-:d:554350
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/10/5209/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/10/5209/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Emslie, Carol & Ridge, Damien & Ziebland, Sue & Hunt, Kate, 2006. "Men's accounts of depression: Reconstructing or resisting hegemonic masculinity?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(9), pages 2246-2257, May.
    2. Shiner, Michael & Scourfield, Jonathan & Fincham, Ben & Langer, Susanne, 2009. "When things fall apart: Gender and suicide across the life-course," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(5), pages 738-746, September.
    3. Cleary, Anne, 2012. "Suicidal action, emotional expression, and the performance of masculinities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(4), pages 498-505.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Richardson, Cara & Robb, Kathryn A. & O'Connor, Rory C., 2021. "A systematic review of suicidal behaviour in men: A narrative synthesis of risk factors," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    2. Ashnil Murray & Adam White & Ryan Scoats & Eric Anderson, 2016. "Constructing Masculinities in the National Rugby League's Footy Show," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 21(3), pages 69-82, August.
    3. Emslie, Carol & Browne, Susan & MacLeod, Una & Rozmovits, Linda & Mitchell, Elizabeth & Ziebland, Sue, 2009. "'Getting through' not 'going under': A qualitative study of gender and spousal support after diagnosis with colorectal cancer," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(6), pages 1169-1175, March.
    4. Rambotti, Simone, 2020. "Is there a relationship between welfare-state policies and suicide rates? Evidence from the U.S. states, 2000–2015," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 246(C).
    5. Oliffe, John L. & Ogrodniczuk, John S. & Bottorff, Joan L. & Johnson, Joy L. & Hoyak, Kristy, 2012. "“You feel like you can’t live anymore”: Suicide from the perspectives of Canadian men who experience depression," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(4), pages 506-514.
    6. Zaheer, Juveria & Shera, Wes & Tsang, A. Ka Tat & Law, Samuel & Fung, Wai Lun Alan & Eynan, Rahel & Lam, June & Zheng, Xiaoqian & Pozi, Liu & Links, Paul S., 2016. "“I just couldn’t step out of the circle. I was trapped”: Patterns of endurance and distress in Chinese-Canadian women with a history of suicidal behaviour," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 43-53.
    7. Marzano, Lisa & Hawton, Keith & Rivlin, Adrienne & Fazel, Seena, 2011. "Psychosocial influences on prisoner suicide: A case-control study of near-lethal self-harm in women prisoners," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(6), pages 874-883, March.
    8. Haines, Rebecca J. & Johnson, Joy L. & Carter, Connie I. & Arora, Kamal, 2009. ""I couldn't say, I'm not a girl" - Adolescents talk about gender and marijuana use," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(11), pages 2029-2036, June.
    9. Green, Gill & Emslie, Carol & O'Neill, Dan & Hunt, Kate & Walker, Steven, 2010. "Exploring the ambiguities of masculinity in accounts of emotional distress in the military among young ex-servicemen," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(8), pages 1480-1488, October.
    10. Melisa Stevanovic & Samuel Tuhkanen & Milla Järvensivu & Emmi Koskinen & Camilla Lindholm & Jenny Paananen & Enikö Savander & Taina Valkeapää & Kaisa Valkiaranta, 2022. "Making Food Decisions Together: Physiological and Affective Underpinnings of Relinquishing Preferences and Reaching Decisions," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(1), pages 21582440221, February.
    11. Andrea Lynn Murphy & David Martin Gardner, 2019. "Pilot Testing the Theoretical Framework of Acceptability in a Process Evaluation of a Community Pharmacy–Based Men’s Mental Health Promotion Program," SAGE Open, , vol. 9(4), pages 21582440198, October.
    12. Anna Cavanagh & Coralie J Wilson & Peter Caputi & David J Kavanagh, 2016. "Symptom endorsement in men versus women with a diagnosis of depression: A differential item functioning approach," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 62(6), pages 549-559, September.
    13. Doyal, Lesley & Anderson, Jane & Paparini, Sara, 2009. "'You are not yourself': Exploring masculinities among heterosexual African men living with HIV in London," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(10), pages 1901-1907, May.
    14. Mueller, Anna S., 2017. "Does the media matter to suicide?: Examining the social dynamics surrounding media reporting on suicide in a suicide-prone community," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 152-159.
    15. Ferdi Botha, 2012. "The Economics Of Suicide In South Africa," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 80(4), pages 526-552, December.
    16. Maria Wiklund & Ann Öhman & Carita Bengs & Eva-Britt Malmgren-Olsson, 2014. "Living Close to the Edge," SAGE Open, , vol. 4(2), pages 21582440145, May.
    17. Ewert, Rebecca, 2021. "“A country boy can survive:” Rural culture and male-targeted suicide prevention messaging," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 289(C).
    18. Shepherd, Debra L., 2022. "Food insecurity, depressive symptoms, and the salience of gendered family roles during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 301(C).
    19. Sarah Shelmerdine, 2017. "Pathways to Inhumane Care: Masculinity and Violence in a South African Emergency Unit," SAGE Open, , vol. 7(3), pages 21582440177, September.
    20. Anisur Rahman Khan & Kopano Ratele, 2021. "Men and Covid-19: Explicating the need for masculinity analysis," Journal of Community Positive Practices, Catalactica NGO, issue 1, pages 3-7.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:10:p:5209-:d:554350. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.