The Aftermath of a Suicide Attempt: the Emotional Impact on Patient and Psychiatrist. A Pilot Study

The authors compared the emotional reaction to attempted suicide in a group of Italian psychiatric patients & their attending psychiatrists. A questionnaire-based interview was administered to a sample of 10 patients admitted to a psychiatric facility for attempted suicide & 10 psychiatrists treating them prior to their attempt. The emotions most frequently reported by the therapists were frustration, sadness, & impotence. Those expressed by the patients were anger, despair, loneliness, sadness, shame, nervousness/irritation, & impotence. Resident psychiatrists reported a higher number of emotional responses than did their senior colleagues. Guilt & shame were not expressed by the psychiatrists although a sense of reparative guilt transpired from some responses. (21 refs.)