Impact of Suicide and Mental Illness on Families - Research Paper Example

Impact of Suicide and Mental Illness on Families Suicide is a primary mental health issue that significantly affects a section of the world’s population. Annually, almost 29, 000 people commit suicide in the United States and leave behind survivors in bereavement. A study by Dune et al. (2007) showed that suicide affects almost seven to eight people and puts an average of 30 people in bereavement. In this study, bereavement will be used to refer to the state of loss of a loved one through suicide while grief will be used to refer to the psychological process and reaction to the loss. Suicide is an unanticipated death that has adverse and prolonged impacts on the bereaved. Though the bereavement that family members and friends experience may differ, it is a bit complicated. This paper will focus on an interview carried out on Anna Mason, a sister to the deceased. The deceased suffered from severe depression that led him to shoot himself with a gun that he had purchased a few days earlier. The respondent’s consent was obtained before carrying out the interview. I started the interview with the first question on her first reaction when she learnt of his death. She said that she felt a shock wave run through her body and for once felt numbness grip my whole body. She said, “I could not believe it. I learnt of his death after a few hours since I was in school by the time it happened. So I later went home only to find people”. It was her cousin who broke the news and there and then that feeling gripped her. Van der Wal (2008) supports this first reaction by asserting that the family members are always in shock when they learn of their loved one’s suicide. Though people react differently, numbness and shock are common effects that people experience with the loss of a loved one by suicide. Secondly, I asked her whether, apart from the police being around, she could tell by the look of her parents that something was terribly wrong. She replied, “I could also sense the shock that had gripped her. I could see she was in a state of grief that was well shown on her face. I could sense the depression on her face and eyes”. Dune et al. (2007) support depression as part of the feelings that grope people whenever they are grieving. Van der Wal (2008) lists depression as another feeling of grief that grips people when they lose a loved one. I then proceeded to ask her whether she had questions that ran through her mind after she learnt of his death. She said “Yes”. She paused then continued, “I had many questions that ran through my mind. Like I used to ask myself why he did? And why I had not been there to prevent him from doing it?” I then asked her whether she could say that this was a feeling of guilt that she felt and she said yes. She acknowledged that all those questions crossed her mind because of the guilt that she felt. She said, “I felt maybe I would have played a role in averting his death that day”. She acknowledged that the previous day he had locked himself up in his room. She continued “I could not tell why he had locked himself up but this was not the first time he had done so”. She said that he had also previously locked himself up and came out after a few hours. She noted, “To us, we thought he would still be out of his room on numerous times my dad had knocked on his door and said he was okay. One thing that we had not done was to ask him to join us for breakfast”. Dune et al. (2007) indicate that family members always feel guilty whenever a loved one commits suicide. The question “why” is common among the survivors as they think things would have been different if they had been there or had done things differently. Even though they were not the reason the deceased committed suicide, they always struggle with their perceived failure in the prevention of the suicide. Precisely, this feeling is more profound among relatives who were aware of the deceased condition and would have done something to avert the incidence (van der Wal, 2008). Fifthly, I asked her whether other people, especially extended family members, blame her or her parents for his death. She responded by saying that she feels so. She continued “Though I could not tell it directly, this is entrenched on the verbal cues that tell you how people perceived the death of my brother”. She acknowledged that some of the extended family members distanced themselves from her family. I then asked if she can say that she has been stigmatised by her extended family leave alone other people and she nodded with acknowledgement. She said, “In fact, the stigma is intense among the extended family members than the external people”. Van der Wal (2008) denotes that some of the family members and friends may blame each other or may blame one of them for the death. This may be seen through direct verbal communication or the verbal cues such as withdrawal from the family members and breaking any ties with the accused member. I then asked her how she would describe her feelings towards her brother for having committed suicide and she acknowledged that she felt anger towards him. She said, “Why would he do that to us? We had not offended him at all, and if we did why would he not tell us? Those are the few questions I also ask myself every day”. She asserted that she felt resentment towards him. “He has put us through a lot of grief,” she said. Anger and resentment are some of the feelings that family members and friends feel towards the deceased (van der Wal, 2008). They feel that he or she put them through a lot of unanticipated grief that cost them a lot. I asked her whether she had any unresolved issue with her brother before his death and if so, what are her feelings on the same. She first acknowledged that she had an argument with her brother and had not reconciled. She said, “I was distressed by this issue and it still does up to now”. Van der Wal (2008) supports distress as one of the effects of suicide especially on family members who had unresolved issues with the deceased. I then asked her whether she thinks the death was a relief to his brother having been aware of his condition. She responded, “At some point I thought so. However, he was my brother no matter what and taking his life did not justify it.” The study by van der Wal (2008) shows that some of the family members may accept that suicide or death is a relief for their loved ones, especially if suffering from mental illness such as depression. Finally, I asked her whether she thinks her parents dealt with the loss the same way she did and she said that the pain of loss and grief was more severe and intense with her parents especially her mum. She said, “She could hardly take anything after the incident. It took her longer to come to terms with the truth”. This implies that suicide on people has distinct effects on people. This is dependent on how close the people were with the deceased or the bond they had (van der Wal, 2008). References Dunne E.J, McIntosh J.L, Dunne-Maxim K. (2007). Suicide and its aftermath: Understanding and counseling the survivors. New York: Norton; 1987. pp. 19–30. Van der Wal J. (2008). The aftermath of suicide: A review of empirical evidence. Omega.20 (149–171). Appendix Interview Questions i. What was your first reaction when you learnt of his death? ii. When you got home, other than the police being around, would you tell by the look of your parents that something was terribly wrong? iii. Did you have questions run through your head after you learnt of his death? iv. Could you say that this was a feeling of guilt that you felt? v. So you could say. Indeed, you have been stigmatized by your family leave alone other people? vi. How would you describe your feelings towards your brother for having committed suicide? vii. Did you have any unresolved issue with your brother? If yes, what is your feeling on the same? viii. Having been aware of your brother’s condition, do you think it was a relief to him? ix. Do you think the way your parents dealt with the loss is the same way you dealt with it? Read More