The Fizzling Effect: A Phenomenological Study on Suicidality Among Filipino Lesbian Women and Gay Men

Living with suicidal thoughts: A scoping review

BACKGROUND

There is a significantly higher number of people experiencing severe levels of suicidal thoughts compared to that of suicidal deaths and suicide attempts. In suicide prevention research, there is a shift towards greater emphasis on people's experiences of living with suicidal thoughts. This can expand the existing evidence base, which is dominated by a biomedical approach. The aim of this review was to summarise and disseminate existing research on the lived experiences of living with suicidal thoughts.

METHODS

A scoping review by Arksey & O'Malley consisting of six stages: (1) formulating the research question, (2) identifying relevant studies, (3) selecting studies, (4) mapping data, (5) summarising the results and (6) consulting stakeholders. PubMed, PsycINFO and CINAHL were searched for studies in English, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian. Peer-reviewed articles examining people's experiences of living with suicidal thoughts using qualitative methods were included. The search was supplemented with a citation pearl search in the Web of Science database. Twenty-eight studies were included.

RESULTS

The findings were organised under two thematic headings: (a) the significance of social connections and (b) a loss of the personal self.

CONCLUSION

There is a need for further qualitative research of people's experiences of living with suicidal thoughts from an everyday life perspective. Awareness about social connections and attachment in mental health prevention and governance is crucial. Trauma-informed care could be a useful approach to prevent suicidal thoughts as the review found that many participants had traumatic experiences in both childhood and adulthood. As part of the treatment of suicidal thoughts, it might be useful to have a focus on narrative and communicative methods and their clinical application.

Using Queer Phenomenology to Disrupt Heteronormativity and Deconstruct Homosexuality

Stigma is structurally embedded and preexists a person's involvement in-the-world. This is understood to create the conditions necessary for what is described here as a priori homophobia, which is defined as a projection of structurally embedded stigma that extends into the mind of 2SLGBTQ individuals and causes them to hide their identities out of fear. With this in mind and by way of queer phenomenology, heteronormativity will be disrupted and the inherently negative notion of "homosexuality" will be deconstructed to understand the role of stigma as a root cause of 2SLGBTQ mental health disparities. Implications for practice are offered so health service providers can understand heteronormativity as a source of everyday harm for 2SLGBTQ and be responsive to the ways in which stigma influences 2SLGBTQ mental health outcomes.

"An Evil Lurking Behind You": Drivers, Experiences, and Consequences of HIV-Related Stigma Among Men Who Have Sex With Men With HIV in Manila, Philippines

The Philippines has a rapidly growing HIV epidemic, with men who have sex with men (MSM) accounting for a majority of known cases. Currently, there is little understanding about MSM's experiences of HIV-related stigma in the Philippines and how they influence behavior and quality of life. Twenty-one interviews with MSM living with HIV and with communitybased organization workers were conducted in Manila from June to August 2017. MSM participants were affected by the intersection of HIV-related stigma and stigma toward homosexuality that are rooted in connotations of morality, "dirtiness," and sin. We identified specific patterns by which MSM living with HIV experienced enacted, felt, and internalized stigma and discuss implications of stigma for mental health, delays in HIV testing, and avoidance of HIV health services. Findings support the development of public health strategies in the Philippines that address stigma at societal and individual levels to reduce stigma-related harms.