Defensive strategies developed by workers in the intervention of suicidal crises

Abstract

Due to the complexity of suicidal crises, workers who intervene in these crises to remove the risk-taking subject develop defense strategies with the purpose of dealing with the suffering and remaining in a working condition. In this context, this article aims to understand the defensive strategies developed by workers who intervene in suicidal crises. To achieve this purpose, 15 (fifteen) workers with experience in interventions in suicidal crises, members of the military fire brigade, located and operating in the southeastern region of Brazil, were interviewed. The data produced were analyzed using the content analysis technique, allowing us to understand defense strategies that act in the denial of suffering, while others act in the dissimulation of suffering. The elaboration of these strategies inserts workers into true traps: dissimulation and denial of suffering allow the continuity of work, but also make suffering difficult to identify.

Keywords:
suicide; working environment; emotional distress; defense strategies; military firefighters