Suicidal ideation and attempts among trans men and transmasculine individuals:

a phenomenological understanding

Abstract

This study aimed to understand the lived experiences of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among trans men and transmasculine individuals through the lens of Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology. The phenomenological method of psychological research developed by Amedeo Giorgi was employed to analyze the accounts of nine participants who reported a history of suicidal ideation and/or suicide attempts. Findings revealed that participants’ insertion into the world, through its intersubjective dimension, can manifest either as presence and (self-)care or as invasion and self-alienation. It was concluded that the gaze of the other profoundly shapes participants’ ways of being-in-the-world and their bodily experience. Conversely, care within supportive social relationships, as expressed in their narratives, fosters the development of the subject’s caring potential, which is ultimately manifested in self-care.