Significant others of suicide attempters: their views at the time of the acute XXXX consultation.

@entity1 @entity2166 @entity146
As part of the @entity146 assessment after a suicide attempt contact with a significant other could be of importance in order to obtain an additional view of the @entity1 's situation, and thereby possibly broadening the basis of the assessment. The aims of this study were to investigate whether information from a significant other would be helpful in the @entity146 assessment of the @entity1 , and also in assessing the well-being of significant others and their need for support. For the purposes of the study, the significant other (SO) who had been recommended by the @entity1 was contacted directly after the suicide attempt. Almost all the @entity1 (95%) agreed to a social worker contacting an SO, and all the contacted SOs (n = 81) agreed to take part in the study. A semi-structured interview was performed by telephone or in @entity1 on the same occasion as we interviewed the @entity1 or as soon as possible afterwards. The study found that the SOs provided valuable additional information regarding the @entity1 's situation. When comparing the outcomes of the interviews with the SOs and those of the @entity1 , problem areas such as loneliness and lack of self-confidence were mentioned more often by SOs. Also, more @entity1 were reported to be repeaters by SOs, and suicidal signals from the @entity1 had been apprehended by 41% of them. Fifty-seven percent of the SOs who had given psychological and/or practical support to the @entity1 stated it was a burden to them, particularly if the @entity1 had @entity146 other than @entity2166 . It was also found that more than half of the SOs wanted individual counselling and/or counselling together with the @entity1 . This study stresses the value of co-operation with the SOs after a suicide attempt, both in the immediate assessment of the @entity1 and in the planning of treatment strategies.
