Suicide by crashing into a heavy vehicle: a focus group study of professional drivers.
Professional heavy vehicle drivers can experience a traumatic event at work when suicidal drivers deliberately crash into their vehicles or a pedestrian jumps in front of them. This study adopts a qualitative approach, aiming to gain an understanding about the psychological and other consequences that these crashes have for this occupational group. We organized a semi-structured focus group meeting with six drivers who reported experiencing a deliberate crash into their vehicle. The meeting was moderated by two psychologists. The participants reported that avoiding the crash was difficult. These events can have long-lasting effects on drivers' well-being although individual differences in the response to the event and coping strategies do exist. Participation in our meeting was regarded as a positive experience. This encourages us to believe that organizing similar meetings that allow drivers under the supervision of professionals to share their own experiences with those who experienced similar events, could perhaps be one way of providing support to such drivers who experienced a traumatic event at work.
['Radun|Igor|I|', 'Parkkari|Inkeri|I|', 'Radun|Jenni|J|', 'HÄkkÄnen-Nyholm|Helinä|H|']
D000063:Accidents, Traffic D000328:Adult D001334:Automobile Driving D005387:Finland D017144:Focus Groups D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic D013405:Suicide
Driver suicide Injuries at work Motor-vehicle crashes Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Self-destruction Violent suicide