RVTS, Oslo University Hospital, Aker, Oslo, Norway.
Int Psychogeriatr. 2010 Mar;22(2):209-18. doi: 10.1017/S1041610209990949. Epub 2009 Sep 14.
The objective of this study is to acquire an understanding of the suicides among a group of elderly people by studying how they experienced their existence towards the end of life.
This is a psychological autopsy study based on qualitative interviews with 63 informants in relation to 23 suicides committed by persons aged over 65 in Norway. Informants who knew the deceased persons well describe what the elderly person communicated to them about their experience of life in the period before the suicide and how they as informants saw and understood this. The informants comprise relatives, family doctors and home-based care nurses. The analysis of the interviews follows the systematic text condensation method.
The descriptions are divided into three main elements: the elderly persons' experiences of life, their perception of themselves, and their conceptions of death. "Experience of life" has two sub-topics: this life has been lived and life as a burden. Everything that had given value to their life had been lost and life was increasingly experienced as a burden. Their "perception of themselves" concerned losing oneself. Functional decline meant that they no longer had freedom of action and self-determination. "Conceptions of death" involve the following sub-topics: acknowledgement/acceptance and death is better than life. Life had entered into its final phase, and they seemed to accept death. For some time, many of them had expressed the wish to die.
The results lead us to argue that their suicides should be considered as existential choices. The sum total of the different forms of strain had made life a burden they could no longer bear. Age meant that they were in a phase of life that entailed closeness to death, which they could also see as a relief.
本研究旨在通过研究老年人如何在生命的末期体验自己的存在，了解这一群体中的自杀现象。
这是一项基于定性访谈的心理解剖研究，涉及 63 名知情者，他们与挪威 23 名 65 岁以上自杀者有关。了解死者的知情者详细描述了老年人在自杀前向他们传达的关于自己生活经历的信息，以及他们作为知情者如何看待和理解这些信息。知情者包括亲属、家庭医生和家庭护理护士。对访谈的分析遵循系统文本浓缩方法。
描述分为三个主要元素：老年人的生活体验、他们对自己的看法以及他们对死亡的概念。“生活体验”有两个子主题：这一生已经度过，生活是一种负担。曾经赋予他们生活价值的一切都已经失去，生活越来越被视为一种负担。他们的“自我认知”涉及失去自我。功能下降意味着他们不再有行动自由和自主权。“死亡观念”涉及以下子主题：承认/接受和死亡比生活好。生命已经进入最后阶段，他们似乎接受了死亡。有一段时间，他们中的许多人都表达了想死的愿望。
研究结果表明，他们的自杀应该被视为存在主义选择。各种形式的压力加在一起，使生活成为他们无法承受的负担。年龄意味着他们正处于接近死亡的生命阶段，他们也可以将其视为一种解脱。
