Use of Alcohol and Unprescribed Drugs after Suicide Bereavement: Qualitative Study

Jessica Eng, Lauren Drabwell, Fiona Stevenson, Michael King, David Osborn and Alexandra Pitman
Additional contact information
Jessica Eng: UCL Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, 26 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AP, UK
Lauren Drabwell: UCL Centre for Behaviour Change, Research Department of Clinical, Educational, and Health Psychology, University College London, 1-19 Torrington Place, London WC1E 7HB, UK
Fiona Stevenson: UCL Research Department of Primary Care & Population Health, Rowland Hill St, London NW3 2PF, UK
Michael King: UCL Division of Psychiatry, Maple House, 149 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 7NF, UK
David Osborn: UCL Division of Psychiatry, Maple House, 149 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 7NF, UK
Alexandra Pitman: UCL Division of Psychiatry, Maple House, 149 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 7NF, UK

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 21, 1-12

Abstract: Studies describing the impact of suicide bereavement report an excess risk of suicide, suicide attempt, psychiatric illness, and drug and alcohol use disorders compared with the general population. However, the nature of patterns of drug and alcohol use after suicide bereavement is unclear. We used an online survey to collect qualitative data to understand whether and how drug and alcohol use changes after suicide bereavement. We conducted thematic analysis of free-text responses to a question capturing their use of alcohol and drugs after the suicide of a family member or a close friend. Analysing data from 346 adults in Britain aged 18–40, we identified three main themes describing the relationship of suicide bereavement to alcohol or drug use: (1) control over drug or alcohol use, (2) the perceived purpose of using drugs or alcohol, and (3) the attribution of drug or alcohol misuse to external factors. Overlying these themes were dimensions of control and of awareness of potential harms. This study highlights that increased use of drugs and alcohol after suicide bereavement may form part of a bereaved person’s coping strategies, and that sensitive approaches are needed when judging whether and when to intervene.

Keywords: suicide; bereavement; grief; alcohol; drug; qualitative research; thematic analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/21/4093/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/21/4093/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:21:p:4093-:d:279728

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().