Farzana Ali

The aim of this thesis is to understand the impact of suicide on families of people who were in receipt of mental health services. Suicide survivors are often researched as a homogenous group and considering only a quarter of the decedents in the UK were in receipt of mental health services prior to their suicide, their family members have been subject to few studies. Suicide is a distinctive form of death and suicide survivors are at an increased risk of poorer physical and mental health so they may wish to access health services, such as counselling. However, a generic response by services fails to address family member’s individual needs because of the different personal, social and cultural factors influencing suicide bereavement. For family members, a key feature of dealing with a suicide is making sense of the death by drawing on their life with the deceased prior to the suicide. By focusing on the mental health context, this study highlights how some family members may have e...

Statistics indicate a projected increase in the number of suicides by those in receipt of mental health services in England. Research has also shown that the impact of suicide on individuals who have lost someone to suicide have an increased risk of poor physical and mental health, including a higher risk of suicidality. However, research within suicide bereavement is limited due to the lack of methodologically robust studies involving those bereaved through suicide. This paper will offer an overview of current debates in the suicide bereavement literature and discuss a forthcoming qualitative study that will examine the impact of suicide by those in receipt of mental health services on their families. The current research will utilise a constructivist grounded theory approach. Analysis of the data will include a process of coding and comparison, leading to theory generation. This study aims to contribute to knowledge of the impact of suicide on family members (where the deceased was in receipt of mental health services) and how to provide effective post-intervention support for these particular families.