A Narrative Review of Suicide: Aiming at a More Encompassing Understanding

Abstract

The suicide experience combines despair with the perception of suicide as the last option to alter its suffering effectively and actively. Shneidman’s phenomenology understands the suicidal mind in terms of psychological pain, as opposed to focusing on the individual context. This article aims to meet and review information from articles and books published in the area of the Phenomenology of Suicide, mostly between 2017 and 2021. By integrating and relating the different philosophical perspectives of the patient, his or her family, and the mental health worker, it is intended to identify emotions that are common to different groups affected by suicide, regardless of the context, experiences, and means used to commit suicide. The phenomenological description of self-determination experienced in suicide helps to improve the understanding of the suicidal mind, which can be useful in understanding questions that relate to issues such as assisted suicide and suicide prevention. The management of post-suicide consequences, especially the stigma, a cross-cutting challenge for all these groups, benefits from the specialized support of health professionals, either through psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy or support groups.