Psychological gaps related to the suicidal ideation in the elderly based on Social Reference Theory： a qualitative study

Abstract

ObjectiveTo unmask the psychological gaps related to suicide ideation in the elderly based on Social Reference Theory， so as to put forward countermeasures for psychological crisis intervention and management.MethodsFrom 2018 to 2019， purposive sampling was adopted to select 19 elderly people with history of suicidal ideation and suicide attempt from 37 geriatric nursing institutions in Ji'nan， Shandong province. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the elderly， and the collected data were processed by Colaizzi seven-step analysis method.ResultsThe qualitative analysis showed that the elderly with suicidal ideation often experienced strong psychological gaps， including physical condition and function gap， family role gap， socially isolated and lonely gap， filial expectation gap and the gap between the real self and ideal self.ConclusionThe psychological gaps serve as the main psychological motivator for suicidal ideation in the elderly， therefore， reducing the psychological gaps can be a new approach for the suicide intervention among the elderly.

Keywords

• elderly
• suicidal ideation
• gap
• social reference theory
• qualitative study