Qualitative study on suicide attempts and ideations with 60 elderly in Brazil

Sixty cases of suicidal attempts and ideations among elderly people from thirteen Brazilian municipalities were studied, with the objective of discovering, from what they had to say, their reasons and interpretations for attempting to take their own life. The study, with a hermeneutic and dialectic basis, was based on an interview guide, to steer the conversation with these individuals. It starts with a sociodemographic classification and looks in depth at the person's situation according to their social, community and family circumstances and their physical and mental health, functional capacity, and the reasons given for the suicidal ideations and attempts. This field information was first analysed locally and then cross-categorized according to the method used, severity of the events and reasons given by the elderly people, by sex, age, socioeconomic profile and risk and protection factors. A comprehensive, critical and interpretative summary was made of the material. The results show that failure to listen to and the isolation of elderly people, lack of awareness of the risks on the part of family, the association with physical and mental, functional, social and family losses and violence are predisposing factors, and concurrent in many cases. The conclusion is that vulnerability and self-neglect are reduced where there is family support, care and bonds of unity.