Exploring the Lived Experiences of Mother with Prolonged Grief Disorder Followed by Child’s Suicidal Death

Abstract

Losing a child to suicide is the one of worst tragic experiences of mother's life. It has pain, grief, guilt and stigma associated with it, which eventually leads to the development of prolonged grief disorder. The qualitative literature was examined for the understanding of phenomenon and for finding research gaps. Through the gap we found the rationale for our research as there is very little or even no amount of research which has studied this phenomenon. Therefore, the aim of the study was to explore lived experiences of mothers with prolonged grief disorder after the suicidal death of their child. Also to explore the societal challenges that mothers encounter after such loss. Qualitative research was conducted, and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was done to explore the phenomenon. Participants were selected through purposive sampling technique and data was collected through semi structured interviews. By following all the steps of IPA, the results emerged, and the findings of the study revealed four superordinate themes from the data namely: Six superordinate themes emerged from the data namely: lost in longing, holding the memories, the existential despair, suicide as stigma, guilt and self-blaming and coping. Multiple subordinate themes emerged from the data namely: lost in longing (forever in my heart, I see him everywhere), holding the memories (I live by his memories, can’t let go of his belongings) and the existential despair ( life has no meaning, disconnecting from the surroundings, suicide as stigma (social stigma; religious stigma), guilt and self-blaming (being a mother) and coping (finding solace in prayers; family as source of sanctuary and a sense of purpose in duty). All these themes seemed to be revealing the lived experiences of the participants.