The Constructed Meaning of Suicide: A Relational Dialectics Theory Analysis of Online Suicide Chats

Abstract

Examining synchronous chats from an online suicide crisis intervention, we used contrapuntal analysis to identify competing discourses of meaning among online suicide chat users. Contrapuntal analysis revealed two emergent discourses in competition to make meaning of suicide among crisis chat users: Discourses of the Precious Life (DPL) and Discourses of Life as a Thing (DLT). The results provide a nuanced understanding of the cultural meaning of suicide presented in chat visitors’ discourse. Aside from the theoretical implications for RDT 2.0 focused research, this study extends a growing body of suicide research that foregrounds culture as a basis for understanding the meaning of suicide from the perspective of the lived experience.