[Treatment plan for female adolescents in the grip of chronic suicidality]

Abstract

Background: A psychological autopsy study (Mérelle e.a. 2020) demonstrates a subgroup of female adolescents with chronic suicidal behavior and severe internalizing problems.

Aim: To describe characteristics of the suicidal process and the challenges experienced in providing mental health care for this subgroup.

Method: A case description and review of literature.

Results: The persistent suicidal threat and the following despair of the patient and its parents are forcing care providers into an impasse: the primary focus of treatment is to guarantee the patient's safety, whereby the treatment of underlying problems is underexposed. Based on expert knowledge we make recommendations including autonomy-promoting treatment policy, treating suicidality as a transdiagnostic phenomenon, creating a multidisciplinary network of care providers and making chronic suicidality tolerable for care providers.

Conclusion: We propose preliminary practical recommendations in our quest for optimal mental health care for chronic suicidal adolescents.