Comparing the reasons for suicide from attempt survivors and their families in Ghana

BACKGROUND: Family members are key in detecting early suicide warning signs. This study compared the reasons for suicidality as reported by attempt survivors with their family folks in Ghana. METHODS: A qualitative design was used to select a sample size of 20 (10 family members and 10 suicide attempt survivors). Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. RESULTS: Analysis of the data showed two major themes: 1) Similar Reasons (where both families and attempt survivors consistently reported similar reasons for suicidality and 2) Different Reasons (where there were sharp divergences). CONCLUSIONS: Findings from this study help to understand the readiness of attempt survivor family members to intervene early during suicidal crisis. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-019-6743-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.