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UNIT 2 ■ Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing Interventions
■■ Listen to feelings of guilt and self-persecution. Gently move the individuals toward the reality of the situation. ■■ Encourage the family members to discuss individ- ual relationships with the lost loved one. Focus on both positive and negative aspects of the relation- ships. Gradually, point out the irrationality of any idealized concepts of the deceased person. The family must be able to recognize both positive and negative aspects about the person before grief work can be resolved. No two people grieve in the same way. It may appear that some family mem- bers are “getting over” their grief faster than oth- ers. All family members must be educated that if this occurs, it is not because those family members “care less”—it is just that they “grieve differently.” Variables that enter into this phenomenon include individual past experiences, personal relationship
with the deceased person, and individual tempera- ment and coping abilities. ■■ Recognize how the suicide has caused disorgani- zation in family coping. Reassess interpersonal relationships in the context of the event. Discuss coping strategies that have been successful in times of stress in the past, and work to reestablish these strategies within the family. Identify new adaptive coping strategies that can be incorporated. ■■ Identify resources that provide support: religious beliefs and spiritual counselors, close friends and relatives, support groups for survivors of suicide. One online connection that puts individuals in contact with survivors groups specific to each state is the American Foundation for Suicide Preven- tion at www.afsp.org. A list of resources that pro- vide information and help for issues regarding suicide is presented in Box 11–5. Cares for troubled boys and girls and families in crisis. www.boystown.org 1-800-448-3000 (24/7 national hotline) Centre for Suicide Prevention (Canada) www.suicideinfo.ca 1-833-456-4566 (24/7 helpline) Samaritans (U.K. and Republic of Ireland) www.samaritans.org 116-123 (24/7 helpline) The Trevor Project Confidential suicide hotline for LGBTQ youth www.thetrevorproject.org 1-866-488-7386 (24/7 hotline) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Center for Injury Prevention and Control Division of Violence Prevention www.cdc.gov/injury/index.html National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) www.nami.org SAVE (Suicide Awareness Voices of Education) www.save.org Alliance of Hope: For Suicide Loss Survivors www.allianceofhope.org
BOX 11–5 Sources for Information Related to Issues of Suicide National Suicide Hotline 1-800-SUICIDE (24/7) National Suicide Prevention Lifeline www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org 1-800-273-TALK (24/7) American Association of Suicidology www.suicidology.org Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) www.dbsalliance.org American Foundation for Suicide Prevention www.afsp.org National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) www.nimh.nih.gov American Psychiatric Association www.psych.org Mental Health America www.nmha.org American Psychological Association (APA) www.apa.org Screening for Mental Health Stop a Suicide Today! www.stopasuicide.org Boys Town
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