Methodology

To understand the changing impact of coronavirus (including lockdown, restrictions, and the economic effects of coronavirus) on the wellbeing of people who have recently been suicidal and/or self-harmed.

• What is the experience of living through the coronavirus pandemic for people who have recently been suicidal or self-harmed?
• What social, psychological and economic effects is coronavirus having on this group?
• How is this changing over time and for different groups?  

All participants received an information sheet and an introductory call to discuss if they would like to take part, and if they would prefer to complete an interview or written response. Different response options were offered to increase accessibility and acknowledge that some participants may prefer to write rather than to speak for an extended time. This felt especially important in this project, taking place during pandemic restrictions, when people may find it more difficult to access a private place to speak freely.

Interviews

We completed interviews with 8 people who have felt suicidal, self-harmed or attempted suicide since the pandemic began, in order to understand the impact of coronavirus on their wellbeing.

All research materials and procedures were reviewed by Samaritans ethics board.

Procedures

Interviews were carried out over the phone or video call. The interviews were unstructured and used a narrative inquiry approach, in which participants retell key ‘moments’ or stories from their life during the pandemic. The interviews were guided by participants and the researchers’ role was primarily to gather more detail, rather than leading the line of questioning.

This approach was used to encourage participants to speak about what feels comfortable to them, rather than being asked direct questions that may potentially feel intrusive. Additionally, this open approach will provide an accurate picture of people’s experiences based on what feels most important to them, rather than being guided by preconceived questions.

Topic guide

Guide questions included:

• How you’ve found things since the pandemic started
• How have restrictions affected your wellbeing

The researchers aimed to cover the following themes in each interview:

• Family and relationships
• Work/study
• Money
• Friends/loneliness
• Mental health support from community or health services
• Physical health

Written responses

7 people completed a written responses using an open-text survey that allowed them to retell key experiences in writing.

Procedures and topic guide

The survey was distributed via SurveyMonkey. The questions mirrored the interview guide, with a series of open-ended questions to encourage participants to reflect on their experiences of the pandemic. Participants were encouraged to share as much as they wish and consider the above themes. All participants were offered a follow-up wellbeing check-in. 

Dissemination and sampling

The research was promoted across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Samaritans’ website, email mailings and sector newsletters. People who were interested in taking part completed an online recruitment screener which covered demographics and experiences during the pandemic. Because we wanted to understand the impact of the pandemic on suicidality, all selected participants had felt suicidal, self-harmed or attempted suicide since March 2020.

Participants who had attempted suicide or planned to take their own life in the week prior to completing the recruitment screener or the interview taking place were not able to take part. Because interviews took place over the course of 2 months, the recruitment screener encouraged anyone who might be excluded on this basis to considering returning to the research at a later date. This approach aimed to minimise exclusion from the research and encourage people to take part at a time that was right for them.

Demographics

The 15 participants were aged between 16-74 and lived across the UK and ROI.

Age

We conducted interviews across a range of age brackets.

• 16-24: 2
• 25-34: 2
• 35-44: 4
• 45-54: 4
• 55-64: 2
• 65-74: 1

Gender

• Female: 11
• Male: 4

Nations

We conducted interviews with people living across the UK and ROI, with the exception of Wales.

• England: 10
• Scotland: 3
• ROI: 1
• NI: 1

Data was analysed through individual case studies and narrative analysis to identify key themes. The narrative analysis was conducted using a mixture of deductive and inductive coding in NVivo.

The initial coding framework captured common themes identified through initial analysis of data from the written responses. The coding framework was then added to by the researchers as the analysis of interviews progressed.

The research was conducted in line with Samaritans’ Research Ethics Policy.