Parents Caring for a Young Person at Risk of Suicide

Abstract

Parents can have a key role in supporting you that risk of suicide and may be able to help reduce their child’s future suicide risk. There is little research exploring parents’ experiences of caring for a young person at risk of suicide in New Zealand. This exploratory study reports on parents’ experiences of caring for a young person a risk of suicide and their experiences with the services supporting their child. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13New Zealand parents of suicidal young people. The interviews were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. Parents described feeling emotionally overwhelmed, powerless and responsible. They described not taking time for themselves, walking on tiptoes, and finding it difficult to talk about if people had not been through similar experiences. They also spoke about building strengths growing and learning. The second part of the analysis focused on parents’ discussions of the services supporting their child. Parents found it difficult to get the help they wanted for their child and felt they were on the outside. They wanted professionals to give greater recognition to their role in their child’s recovery. These findings suggest ways in which mental health professionals could more effectively relate to parents of young people at risk of suicide. The findings emphasize the need for compassion and sensitivity to parents’ emotional needs, and the importance of collaboration between all of those supporting the young person’s wellbeing.