What About Us? The Experience and Impact of Patient Suicide on Psychiatrists in Malaysia

Despite its impact, grief following a patient’s suicide among psychiatrists in Malaysia is still unrecognised and not responded to systematically, as no local postvention guidelines are available for psychiatrists to get support following the loss. This study aims to describe the experiences of psyc...

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Main Authors: MUHAMMAD HANIF, ABD LATIF, NUR IWANA, ABDUL TAIB, NURAZAH, ISMAIL, ABDUL HAKEM, ZAHARI, TUTI IRYANI, MOHD DAUD, RAVIVARMA RAO, PANIRSELVAM, JOHARI, KHAMIS, AHMAD ROSTAM, MD ZIN, HAZLI, ZAKARIA
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2024
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Online Access:http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/47069/1/28th_malaysian_conference_of_psychological_medicin_15998.pdf
http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/47069/
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spelling my.unimas.ir-470692024-12-30T06:34:15Z http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/47069/ What About Us? The Experience and Impact of Patient Suicide on Psychiatrists in Malaysia MUHAMMAD HANIF, ABD LATIF NUR IWANA, ABDUL TAIB NURAZAH, ISMAIL ABDUL HAKEM, ZAHARI TUTI IRYANI, MOHD DAUD RAVIVARMA RAO, PANIRSELVAM JOHARI, KHAMIS AHMAD ROSTAM, MD ZIN HAZLI, ZAKARIA BF Psychology R Medicine (General) Despite its impact, grief following a patient’s suicide among psychiatrists in Malaysia is still unrecognised and not responded to systematically, as no local postvention guidelines are available for psychiatrists to get support following the loss. This study aims to describe the experiences of psychiatrists in Malaysia who have encountered patient suicide. This is an ongoing online cross-sectional study conducted among psychiatrists across Malaysia. Data collection has been ongoing since December 2023 and is expected to be completed in July 2024. At the time of writing, there were 73 respondents. Preliminary findings showed that 76.3% of respondents experienced patient suicide, mostly resulting in emotional distress like sadness, regret, guilt, and shame. Approximately 30% experienced effects lasting over a month, with some still ongoing (3.6%). Despite this, most never sought external support or took leave. About two-thirds of the respondents reported negative impacts on their clinical practice; a few considered career or place of practice changes. Many became more cautious with at-risk patients. Over 70% felt pressured to prevent suicide and believe that suicide prevention is the role of psychiatrists. Being blamed and lacking support following the loss were cited as unhelpful actions. Most respondents wanted support mechanisms such as personal debriefing, help in communicating or meeting the patient’s family/ friends, senior clinician involvement, peer support and information about the process following patients’ death by suicide and resources for families affected by suicide. Preliminary results on Malaysian psychiatrists’ experiences with patient suicide loss were coherent with findings from similar studies around the world. The gap in the support system for psychiatrists was highlighted as most of the psychiatrists did not seek external support following the loss. Future guidelines in supporting psychiatrists in Malaysia should include the involvement of senior clinicians and peer support in managing the events after patients’ suicide. Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2024 Article PeerReviewed text en http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/47069/1/28th_malaysian_conference_of_psychological_medicin_15998.pdf MUHAMMAD HANIF, ABD LATIF and NUR IWANA, ABDUL TAIB and NURAZAH, ISMAIL and ABDUL HAKEM, ZAHARI and TUTI IRYANI, MOHD DAUD and RAVIVARMA RAO, PANIRSELVAM and JOHARI, KHAMIS and AHMAD ROSTAM, MD ZIN and HAZLI, ZAKARIA (2024) What About Us? The Experience and Impact of Patient Suicide on Psychiatrists in Malaysia. Medicine & Health, 19 (7). pp. 16-17. ISSN 2289-5728 https://medicineandhealthukm.com/
institution Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
building Centre for Academic Information Services (CAIS)
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
content_source UNIMAS Institutional Repository
url_provider http://ir.unimas.my/
language English
topic BF Psychology
R Medicine (General)
spellingShingle BF Psychology
R Medicine (General)
MUHAMMAD HANIF, ABD LATIF
NUR IWANA, ABDUL TAIB
NURAZAH, ISMAIL
ABDUL HAKEM, ZAHARI
TUTI IRYANI, MOHD DAUD
RAVIVARMA RAO, PANIRSELVAM
JOHARI, KHAMIS
AHMAD ROSTAM, MD ZIN
HAZLI, ZAKARIA
What About Us? The Experience and Impact of Patient Suicide on Psychiatrists in Malaysia
description Despite its impact, grief following a patient’s suicide among psychiatrists in Malaysia is still unrecognised and not responded to systematically, as no local postvention guidelines are available for psychiatrists to get support following the loss. This study aims to describe the experiences of psychiatrists in Malaysia who have encountered patient suicide. This is an ongoing online cross-sectional study conducted among psychiatrists across Malaysia. Data collection has been ongoing since December 2023 and is expected to be completed in July 2024. At the time of writing, there were 73 respondents. Preliminary findings showed that 76.3% of respondents experienced patient suicide, mostly resulting in emotional distress like sadness, regret, guilt, and shame. Approximately 30% experienced effects lasting over a month, with some still ongoing (3.6%). Despite this, most never sought external support or took leave. About two-thirds of the respondents reported negative impacts on their clinical practice; a few considered career or place of practice changes. Many became more cautious with at-risk patients. Over 70% felt pressured to prevent suicide and believe that suicide prevention is the role of psychiatrists. Being blamed and lacking support following the loss were cited as unhelpful actions. Most respondents wanted support mechanisms such as personal debriefing, help in communicating or meeting the patient’s family/ friends, senior clinician involvement, peer support and information about the process following patients’ death by suicide and resources for families affected by suicide. Preliminary results on Malaysian psychiatrists’ experiences with patient suicide loss were coherent with findings from similar studies around the world. The gap in the support system for psychiatrists was highlighted as most of the psychiatrists did not seek external support following the loss. Future guidelines in supporting psychiatrists in Malaysia should include the involvement of senior clinicians and peer support in managing the events after patients’ suicide.
format Article
author MUHAMMAD HANIF, ABD LATIF
NUR IWANA, ABDUL TAIB
NURAZAH, ISMAIL
ABDUL HAKEM, ZAHARI
TUTI IRYANI, MOHD DAUD
RAVIVARMA RAO, PANIRSELVAM
JOHARI, KHAMIS
AHMAD ROSTAM, MD ZIN
HAZLI, ZAKARIA
author_facet MUHAMMAD HANIF, ABD LATIF
NUR IWANA, ABDUL TAIB
NURAZAH, ISMAIL
ABDUL HAKEM, ZAHARI
TUTI IRYANI, MOHD DAUD
RAVIVARMA RAO, PANIRSELVAM
JOHARI, KHAMIS
AHMAD ROSTAM, MD ZIN
HAZLI, ZAKARIA
author_sort MUHAMMAD HANIF, ABD LATIF
title What About Us? The Experience and Impact of Patient Suicide on Psychiatrists in Malaysia
title_short What About Us? The Experience and Impact of Patient Suicide on Psychiatrists in Malaysia
title_full What About Us? The Experience and Impact of Patient Suicide on Psychiatrists in Malaysia
title_fullStr What About Us? The Experience and Impact of Patient Suicide on Psychiatrists in Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed What About Us? The Experience and Impact of Patient Suicide on Psychiatrists in Malaysia
title_sort what about us? the experience and impact of patient suicide on psychiatrists in malaysia
publisher Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
publishDate 2024
url http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/47069/1/28th_malaysian_conference_of_psychological_medicin_15998.pdf
http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/47069/
https://medicineandhealthukm.com/
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