A Consensual Qualitative Study on the Suicidal Crisis Experiences of International Students residing in Korea

Objectives This study was conducted to examine how international students living in Korea experience a suicide crisis. More specifically, the suicide crisis was divided into two areas to confirm the experience. It is the experience of a direct suicide crisis and a potential suicide crisis. Methods An in-depth interviews were conducted with a total of six international students and analyzed according to the consensual qualitative research method (CQR). Of the six total participants, three were Chinese students, two were Uzbekistan students, and one was a Kazakh student. Results A total of 6 areas, 14 categories, and 43 subcategories were derived. Six of these areas were “experiences of thinking about suicide”, “experience of cultural differences or discrimination”, “experience with difficulties in academic performance”, “difficulties experienced in counseling,” “experience of belonging”, and “experience as a burden” Conclusions This study is significant in that it provides an in-depth look at the experiences of international students who are experiencing a psychological crisis severe enough to consider suicide. In addition, it is valuable to be used as useful data regarding the development of suicide-related education programs and training courses for international student counselors in the future, as well as coping methods for crisis counseling for international students.