Research finding · January 2024
A cognitive process called “mentalization” affects how suicide loss survivors process grief
In psychological research, a major way of getting to know a condition on a deeper level –– and ultimately, more effectively treat it –– is to study the underlying processes, also known as moderators, that facilitate or maintain certain outcomes. In the case of suicide loss bereavement, moderators can play a role in whether suicide loss survivors’ grief progresses to a more intensely debilitating level (i.e., prolonged grief, suicidal ideation), or if they more healthily process the loss in a way that facilitates healing and positive psychological growth (i.e., post-traumatic growth). One cognitive process that has been thought to be a potential moderator at play in loss survivors’ grief journeys is mentalization, which refers to one’s capacity for reflecting on and making sense of their internal thoughts and feelings and connecting it to their behaviors. For example, survivors who experience difficulties with mentalization may find it harder to decipher and explain their thoughts and feelings to themselves and to others, which could preclude them from the prospect of receiving help and alleviating pain.
To test this, Dr. Yossi Levi-Belz recruited 152 suicide-loss survivors to report on their experience. The participants initially completed assessments that gathered information on their loss, and then were administered three questionnaires that measured complicated grief, suicidal ideation, and mentalization capacity. Dr. Levi-Belz found that difficulties with mentalization were significantly associated with complicated grief and suicidal ideation, and that when the mentalization difficulties were greater, complicated grief’s contribution to suicidal ideation was stronger. Dr. Levi-Belz also outlined how strengthening mentalization abilities, through interventions such as Mentalization-Based Therapy, may have an effect in the opposite direction by facilitating processes that have been proven to lead to post-traumatic growth, such as self-disclosure and self-forgiveness.
Citation: Yossi Levi-Belz & Lilac Lev-Ari (2023) Thinking for healing: The role of mentalization deficits as moderator in the link between complicated grief and suicide ideation among suicide-loss survivors, Death Studies, 47:3, 360-369, https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2022.2065707
This finding comes from an AFSP-funded study — see the grant below ↓
