Department of Public and Occupational Health, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Crisis. 2011;32(4):204-16. doi: 10.1027/0227-5910/a000078.
Quantitative studies in several European countries showed that 10-20% of older people have or have had a wish to die.
To improve our understanding of why some older people develop a wish to die.
In-depth interviews with people with a wish to die (n = 31) were carried out. Through open coding and inductive analysis, we developed a conceptual framework to describe the development of death wishes. Respondents were selected from two cohort studies.
The wish to die had either been triggered suddenly after traumatic life events or had developed gradually after a life full of adversity, as a consequence of aging or illness, or after recurring depression. The respondents were in a situation they considered unacceptable, yet they felt they had no control to change their situation and thus progressively "gave up" trying. Recurring themes included being widowed, feeling lonely, being a victim, being dependent, and wanting to be useful. Developing thoughts about death as a positive thing or a release from problems seemed to them like a way to reclaim control.
People who wish to die originally develop thoughts about death as a positive solution to life events or to an adverse situation, and eventually reach a balance of the wish to live and to die.
在几个欧洲国家进行的定量研究表明，10-20%的老年人有或曾经有过死亡的愿望。
增进我们对为什么一些老年人会产生死亡愿望的理解。
对有死亡愿望的人（n=31）进行了深入的访谈。通过开放式编码和归纳分析，我们开发了一个概念框架来描述死亡愿望的发展。受访者是从两项队列研究中选择的。
死亡的愿望要么是在创伤性生活事件后突然产生的，要么是在充满逆境的生活后逐渐产生的，是衰老或疾病的结果，或者是在反复抑郁后产生的。受访者处于他们认为无法接受的情况，但他们感到自己无法控制局面，因此逐渐“放弃”尝试。反复出现的主题包括丧偶、孤独感、受害者心态、依赖性以及希望有用。将死亡视为积极的事情或从问题中解脱出来的想法，对他们来说，似乎是重新获得控制的一种方式。
有死亡愿望的人最初将死亡视为解决生活事件或不利局面的积极方法，最终达到了生与死的平衡。
