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Les motifs du suicide gériatrique: une étude exploratoire*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 March 2010

Luc Legris  and
Michel Préville
Luc Legris
Affiliation:
Centre de recherche de l'Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Sherbrooke, Université de Sherbrooke
Michel Préville*
Affiliation:
Centre de recherche de l'Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Sherbrooke, Université de Sherbrooke
*
Les demandes de tirés à part doivent être addressées à : / Requests for offprints should be sent to: Dr Michel Préville, Centre de recherche de l'Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Sherbrooke, 840, rue Papineau, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada, J1E 1Z2. ([email protected])
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Abstract

Five semi-structured interviews were conducted, using the psychological autopsy method, in order to document the causes of geriatric suicide and to describe the interaction among suicidal elderly persons, their personal and social environments, and health care professionals. The results of this study support our hypothesis that elderly persons view suicide as a means of alleviating the psychological suffering associated with the frustration they experience on account of their inability to satisfy their basic needs. Three types of basic needs that affect the suicidal tendency of elderly persons were identified: the need to self-actualize, the need to belong, and the need to feel safe. The results also show that the people who make up the social and personal environment of elderly persons have a limited role in the prevention of suicide. This is due to their unfamiliarity with the problems surrounding the fulfilment of the basic needs of the suicidal elderly. Furthermore, as revealed in the cases studied here, the intervention of the health care system has centred mainly on the use of medication as a treatment for symptoms of psychological distress. The health care system pays little attention to the dissonance associated with the frustration suicidal elderly persons experience on account of their inability to satisfy their basic needs. Finally, the outcome of this qualitative study suggests that understanding the basic needs of the elderly can be very useful in understanding geriatric suicide.

Résumé

Cinq entrevues semi-structurées ont été réalisées à l'aide de la méthode de l'autopsie psychologique pour documenter les motifs du suicide gériatrique et pour caractériser les interactions entre la personne âgée suicidaire, son entourage et le milieu professionnel. Les résultats de l'étude supportent l'hypothèse selon laquelle le suicide est envisagé pour soulager la souffrance psychologique associée à la frustration de besoins fondamentaux. Trois types de besoins impliqués dans la dynamique suicidaire des personnes âgées ont été identifiés : le besoin de se réaliser, le besoin d'appartenance et le besoin de sécurité. Nos résultats démontrent également que le rôle préventif de l'entourage est limité par sa méconnaissance des enjeux fondamentaux présents dans le processus suicidaire de la personne âgée. Par ailleurs, dans les cas étudiés, l'intervention du système de soins est presque exclusivement centrée sur le traitement pharmacologique des symptômes de détresse et peu d'attention a été accordée à la dissonance associée à la frustration des besoins fondamentaux des personnes âgées suicidaires. Les résultats de cette étude exploratoire suggèrent que la perspective des besoins fondamentaux peut être d'une grande utilité pour comprendre le suicide gériatrique.

Keywords

vieillissementsuicidegériatriebesoins fondamentauxétude qualitativevieillissementsuicidegériatriebesoins fondamentauxétude qualitative
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 22 , Issue 2 , Summer/L'été 2003 , pp. 197 - 205
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 2003

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Footnotes

*

Cette étude a été supportée financièrement par le Conseil québécois de la recherche sociale (N o: 952138), par l'Institut de recherche René-Cassin et par le groupe de recherche et d'intervention sur le suicide et d'euthanasie CRISE. Les auteurs remercient également madame Jade Bilodeau qui a accepté de réviser le manuscrit de ce rapport.

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