Introduction: Many occupational therapists in psychiatric care have experienced a patient's suicide and are likely to have been stressed by it, but there is a lack of support to minimize the impact.
Objective: To understand the stress reactions and progression, as well as coping behaviors, that occurred in OTRs in psychiatry who have experienced the suicide of a mentally ill patient, and to generate hypotheses about the process of recovery from the experience of a patient's suicide.
Method: The subjects were OTRs who had experienced a patient suicide while working in the psychiatric field and may have exhibited stress reactions. An interview survey was conducted using semi-structured interview methods.
Results: Of the 47 OTRs, 33 had experienced a patient suicide, and 9 participated in the interview survey. The first type was OTRs who had experienced a patient's suicide in the past or who had received support that encouraged them to talk, remembering their past coping behavior and trying to talk to those around them (Type I). The second type was OTRs who had experienced a patient's suicide for the first time, who were unable to talk and dealt with the situation on their own, suppressing their self-blame (Type II).
Conclusion: All of the OTRs in Type II, who were unable to talk and dealt with the situation on their own, wanted to be like Type I, who reflected on the experience through dialogue with those around them, and it was thought that ultimately support for recovery aimed at Type I was necessary.