“I am scared of what I might do to myself”: Young People’s Communication about Suicide on a Text Message Counselling Service

Abstract

This research used a qualitative methodology to explore what young people experiencing suicidality communicated about their experience via a text message counselling service. The aim was to identify the reasons young people gave for feeling suicidal, their experience of suicidality, the barriers that prevented them from seeking support, and why they were reaching out to a text message service whilst in crisis. The data consisted of 125 text message counselling transcripts where the young person was experiencing suicidality. These were obtained from Youthline’s text message counselling service, which were collected as part of their normal service delivery. The data was analysed using thematic analysis. The analysis found that in a moment of crisis young people experiencing suicidality identified multiple difficulties across different domains which contributed to why they were suicidal, the experience of suicidality was dynamic and heterogenous, the ambivalence and uncertainty young people had about suicide, difficulties in communicating their suicidality, help-seeking barriers that were reflective of young people’s unique needs and wants, and the value of text message counselling as a medium through which they could seek help. Utilising the perspectives of young people experiencing suicidality and prioritising their voice should be a key component of youth suicide prevention strategies.