Managing a Suicidal Patient | Report

Running head: MANAGING A SUICIDAL PATIENT
MANAGING A SUICIDAL PATIENT
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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MANAGING A SUICIDAL PATIENT
Introduction:
Caring for patients with suicidal ideation gained increased attention due to the difficulties
experienced by health professionals while communicating with patients. In the United Kingdom,
approximately 6500 individuals commit suicide every year. Every 2 hours someone is
committing suicide. Considering the epidemiology of attempted suicide, 170000 individuals
attempt to commit suicide due to mental illness or repeated stress (McCabe et al., 2016). The
national confidential inquiry of suicide suggested that majority of the individuals who committed
suicide are at high risk of mental illness or suffering from mental illness. Marchant et al.
(2017), management of a patient with suicidal behaviour and ideation is to involve them in the
communication. In this context, communication with other family members are also crucial. This
essay will focus on the management of one such patient with suicidal ideation and behaviour
who lost his job two years ago. His wife suggested that he exhibited heavy drinking habit,
suicidal thought, loss of appetite social exclusion and explosive anger along with violence. The
interpersonal theory of suicide would be used in this case to explain the behaviour. This essay
will elaborate scenario, consider the role of nurses and others in the successful management and
resolution of the issue. In order to comply with the NMC Code of Conduct of confidentiality, the
patient to be discussed in this assignment will be referred to as Mr Alex (Www.nmc.org.uk
2020).
Discussion:

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MANAGING A SUICIDAL PATIENT
Suicidal ideation and theory:
The management of patients with suicide ideation or attempted suicide is a clinical
responsibility falls under the primary care services and physicians must possess effective
communication skills and knowledge ensure safety of the patients. Suicidal patients often
experience acute emotional pain similar to patients with physical illness. Therefore, empathetic
and patient-centred care is the most possible mean of reducing suicidal ideation and behaviour
amongst patients. The case study involves a patient of 46 years old who exhibited a continuous
tendency of self-harming behaviour, chronic feeling of emptiness, poor sleeping pattern, loss of
appetite social exclusion. He had a history of borderline personality disorder which increased the
risk of commuting suicide. He had been exhibiting frequent suicidal communication and
frequently collecting sharp weapon along with pills.
Itzhaky et al. (2020), suggested that borderline personality disorder is a condition which
is characterized by the difficulties in regulating the emotion. The individuals with borderline
personality disorder usually exhibit difficulties in regulating emotion which resulted in poor self-
image, self-harm behaviour, suicidal thoughts and behaviour, depressed mood, a chronic feeling
of boredom or emptiness and uncontrollable anger. The common etiological factors behind the
development of disorder and associated suicidal ideation include environmental factors such as
stress or traumatic life events, brain function as observed in this case study. In this context, the
genetic factor is a family history of suicide as his father committed suicide, the environmental
factor is stress due to unemployment (Carter et al., 2017). According to stress vulnerability
model, genetic factors and biological predisposition, psychological and social factors can
increase the likelihood of developing mental illness and associated clinical manifestations. In this
context, it might be the case that death of father by suicide combined with stress due to lack of

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MANAGING A SUICIDAL PATIENT
employments subjected patient to the reoccurrence of borderline disorder and patient exhibit
suicidal ideation (Gardner, Dodsworth & Klonsky, 2016). The suicidal ideation specifically can
be explained by Interpersonal theory of suicide. The interpersonal theory of suicide suggested
that individuals usually engage in suicidal expression and attempt suicide due to the presence of
thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness (Chu et al., 2017). Thwarted
belongingness is feeling of being accepted by others and it is essential for the psychological
health of the individuals since individuals perceive it as a fundamental need. On the other hand,
perceived burdensomeness is a belief that one is a burden to the family and society. Taking a
deep insight into the situation, it might be the scenario that due to lack of employment Alex
experience Perceived burdensomeness whereas social exclusion and lack of social connectedness
facilitate the feeling of thwarted belongingness. These two factors triggered the desire of
committing suicide (Tucker et al., 2018). Moreover, upon communication, the patient often
exhibited suicidal communication. Jordan, Samuelson and Tiet (2019), suggested that suicidal
communication is defined as the expression of suicidal thoughts and behaviours and it can be
verbal suicidal communication and nonverbal suicidal communication. The direct suicidal
communication refers to the clear expression of the suicidal intentions. In this case
scenario, Alex clearly demonstrated verbal suicidal communication through short phrases such as
“nobody can help him and death is the only possible mean of relief”. On the other hand,
nonverbal suicidal communication is defined as the gestures exhibited by suicidal individuals
such as collecting sharp objects and drug prescriptions as observed in this case. Alex clearly
demonstrated nonverbal suicidal communication by exhibiting a habit of collecting sharp
weapon along with pills that can facilitate suicide. The common practice in this area for