The Experience of Witnessing a Stranger's Suicide

In 2005, suicide was the 11th leading cause of death in the United States, claiming 32,637 lives (Kung, Hoyert, Xu, & Murphy, 2008). Studies have shown that at least 4% to 10% of suicides are committed in the physical presence of another person (Andress & Corey 1978; Dorpat and Ripley, 1960; McDowel, Rothberg, and Koshes, 1994). Due to a dearth in the literature, very little is known about the effect public suicide has on bystanders. Thus, the current study was designed to provide empirical data on a topic that has not been fully explored within the field of psychology: witnessed suicide.;Criterion sampling resulted in the selection of ten participants who had been in the physical presence of a stranger who made a serious suicide attempt that resulted in death or outcome unknown. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted in person, utilizing an exploratory and emergent design. The researcher used the Constant Comparative Method (Maykut & Morehouse, 1994) to analyze the interview transcripts and identify significant themes. Twenty-one themes emerged: 14 major and 7 minor. Major themes required endorsement by 70% or more of the participants, while minor themes required endorsement from 50-69% of the participants. The themes were organized into six categories: (1) Witnesses' Experiences During the Suicide; (2) Acute Responses to Suicide; (3) Long Term Impact; (4) Beliefs about Suicide; (5) Factors that Influenced Witnesses' Reactions and Beliefs; and (6) Other. Additional data regarding the participants' stress responses were collected using the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R).;The results of this study indicate that all but one of the participants considered witnessing a stranger's suicide to be a traumatic event. Both acute and long-term posttraumatic symptoms were identified, with one participant meeting criteria for chronic PTSD. Some participants shared that this experience increased their awareness of mental illness and suicide, and led them to be more responsive to those who appear to be in distress. The number of responses this writer received when recruiting participants suggests that witnessing a stranger's suicide may be a more common phenomenon than suspected. Considering the lack of literature on the topic, it appears that this experience --- as well as the experience of being a witness to traumatic events in general --- is under-represented in the literature and worthy of research.