Citation

Stynes R. Venereology 1998; 11(4): 15-25.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1998)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This paper examines suicide narratives as they present in therapy between infected people, their significant others and therapists. Suicide discourse and therapeutic practices are explored through the qualitative analysis of 303 counselling sessions obtained over a six year period. The data highlights a changing emphasis in suicide narratives. Suicide-talk in HIV-AIDS therapy is prevalent and in transition. It also challenges the popular notion that HIV-AIDS suicide-talk is always an indicator of suicide intent and that it is not always HIV-AIDS related. The data also reveals that talk about suicide is multi-dimensional and varies between different client groups. For clients, seven dimensions of suicide-talk are identified, while for therapists two types are identified. Suicide therapy for people infected and affected by HIV and AIDS is a complex task and dependent upon a number of issues. The paper describes a number of interactional styles and therapeutic rituals, along with important implications and consequences for clinical practices.

Language: en

Keywords

acquired immune deficiency syndrome; adult; article; clinical practice; doctor patient relation; human; human immunodeficiency virus infection; interpersonal communication; major clinical study; male; patient counseling; suicide