Browsing by Author "Mboweni, Ntwanano Harnelly Charmain"

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    How Undergraduate Students at the University of Witwatersrand Make Meaning of Non -Disclosure of Suicidal Ideation
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2022-07) Mboweni, Ntwanano Harnelly Charmain; Jithoo, Vinitha
    The self-concealment of suicidality poses a significant threat to the well-being of university students around the globe. Suicidal concealment greatly exacerbates emotional and psychological distress within this cohort and unabated leads to a suicide death. Suicidality concealment within the university student population presents a perplexing and unique problem to university stakeholders, clinicians, and researchers. University students are in proximity to psychological care that is freely offered on university campuses, and yet more than half of students who contemplate and eventually die by suicide do not take up these services. Even more vexing is that students choose to deny and conceal suicidal distress from intimate support networks. There is an undeniable need to explore the factors that influence students’ decision to conceal suicidal ideation as well as the factors that facilitate disclosure of suicidality within this population. Using a constructivist grounded theory approach the present study explored understanding of concealment concerning suicidal ideation among university students. It focussed on understanding the personal narratives and lived experiences that motivate students to conceal their suicidal thoughts, feelings, and intentions. Focus groups were used to make sense of students’ understanding and meaning making of suicidal thoughts and why talking about suicidal desires is so challenging. The study concluded that suicide and concealment among university students are multifaceted. The reasons for concealing suicidal thoughts reflect both internal motivations, such as feelings of shame, helplessness, feeling isolated, and mental health concerns, and external motivations, such as fear of consequences that may result from telling others. Attitudinal factors, such as being a burden to others, stigma and its consequences, lack of perceived need for help, mistrust, and desire to be self-reliant, emerged more frequently than structural factors, such as lack of access to help. Additionally, several reasons unique to university life, such as academic competence, performance-related anxiety, financial difficulties, and a sense of belonging, emerged. Student voices echoed the need for mental health and suicide literacy programs and greater cohesiveness and a sense of belonging within the university community could encourage greater engagement with emotional distress.