Page 59 - IJPS-10-2

International Journal of
Population Studies Experience of bereavement by suicide in later life

themselves and others, moved from introspection and for experienced bereavement by suicide which might harness
some to taking up a leadership role. Grief is often referred their sense of agency and wider structural influences for
to as a process of adaptation (Sand & Tenant, 2010) over learning. Some people in this study were able to clearly
time periods in which those impacted revisit and rework articulate their needs from interrogating their own
their loss experiences, make sense of them, and cope with experiences but had fewer actual vehicles for engagement
them eventually (Hybholt, et al., 2020b). in support. Providing opportunities for enabling people
to develop their potential from the perspective of service
In our study, the trajectory of the individual’s lifespan
and the impact of other significant life events (such as providers means also not making assumptions about
aging, and levels of motivation to learn (Withnall, 2010).
going through a divorce, retirement, other bereavements,
or deterioration in their physical health) varied through There are a wide range of learning practices which
different stages of participants getting older. These recognize that learning takes place right through life and
influenced the range of recourses that they had to is life-wide. These take place in everyday contexts and
draw on and to navigate more traumatic bereavement need to be enduring and connective at both personal
experience. Given that older people tend to have more or and community levels (Burke & Jackson, 2007). This
cumulative experiences of bereavement, participants made is noteworthy given that suicide prevention is under-
connections with how this process can be complicated developed for older people where strategies for younger
by ageism where less value may be given to the person’s people have been given much more attention (Hafford-
loss or how they are expected to deal with it (Hafford- Letchfield et al., 2021; 2022).
Letchfield et al., 2022). Participants referred to periods 4.2. Evidence of transformation in adapting to
where they did not question changes to their physical and traumatic experience in later life and the factors
mental health or actively seek help but instead, they tended shaping the transformational learning process
to internalize the impact, and the result of which was
adopting a reduced expectation about their quality of life Looking at these accounts through the lens of learning
going forward. Relevant to our participants, and different demonstrated a clear conscious process and/or state of
to younger cohorts, Fegg et al. (2016) have documented critical consciousness on behalf of the older person when
that in later life, chronic physical and mental health are a faced with change or new situations following the suicide
contributing factor to suicide. trauma and challenges of later life. Other methods such as
the assimilation model (Stiles & Brinegar, 2007) describe
Participants’ expressive needs were often curtailed a developmental sequence. Within this latter approach,
by others due to their perceived position in society, for psychological experiences are treated as agentic internal
example, by taking on new caring roles, hiding or burying voices through which the mechanism of psychotherapy
their own feelings to protect others. There was a decline enables assimilation of emotional and cognitive review.
in opportunities for social activities for those who had Individuals are then enabled to develop insight and provided
lost a child, who expressed feelings of invisibility and a meaning bridge between problematic experience and the
even becoming avoidant with their own peers who had larger community of voices within the person. However,
children and grandchildren. This self-silence or the transformational learning enables the experience of what
recognition of societal taboos were sometimes connected Jarvis calls this “disjuncture” (Jarvis, 2009), through the
with wider structural influences which marginalize people rapid need to reassess one’s expectations and perspectives
in later life (Naef et al., 2013). These experiences highlight on current and future later life. This demands reflection,
generational differences in dealing with traumatic events reflexivity, and support so that meaning could be attributed
as our participants revealed more stoic or adopted and provide the conditions for potential transformation
avoidant coping styles as well as finding comfort through and continuing positive engagement in society. Cranton
open dialogue (Chatterji et al., 2015). Other studies have (2006) suggests that learning occurs when “an individual
noted that contrastingly, younger individuals tended to encounters an alternative perspective and prior habits
conceal their emotions and suffering. Further, younger of mind are called into question;” and it occurs as a
people may be more likely to turn to the internet and be dramatic event or a “gradual cumulative process” (p. 23).
more active in reaching out to their peers (Koo et al., 2016; For Mezirow, transformative learning “may be epochal,
Hafford-Letchfield et al., 2022). Knowing these points on a sudden, dramatic, reorienting insight, or incremental,
the journey might highlight gaps and needs where earlier involving a progressive series of transformations in related
interventions can be targeted and understanding these points of view that culminate in a transformation in habit of
different experiences is a first step toward developing the mind” (2000, p. 21). These were evident in the experience of
nuances required in responding to older people who have those who became more active and even political, in using

Volume 10 Issue 2 (2024) 53 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.0777