Abstract
The scope of this article is to reflect about the boredom while potentializer circumstance of suicide attempts of an institutionalized elderly. For the realization of this research were used two types of instrument: personal and social identification form of the elderly and semi-structured interview. This is a case study that analyses qualitatively the discourse of elderly using as guidance the principles of hermeneutical-dialectic. It was found that the attempts occurred associated, mainly, with the following circumstances: fragile social-familiar relationships, social isolation, loneliness, tedious lifetime, depression, abuse of alcohol and negative perception of aging. Considering the complexity of the factors associated to suicide attempts, it is understood that none factor, by itself, is determinative for effectuation of the attempts. Though the circumstances that involved these events might be several, and they are reported in this article, it is possible to infer that the boredom, characterized as meaningless time, assumed prominent place.
Keywords:
boredom; suicide; suicide attempt; elderly