Unheard narratives: A descriptive phenomenological study of the lived world of adolescents after experiencing a suicide attempt

Adolescent suicide is a major global mental health challenge. Although many risk factors are known, how adolescents experience and make meaning of life after a suicide attempt requires qualitative inquiry. This study described the lived experiences and meaning structures of Iranian adolescents aged 12–19 who had attempted suicide at least once. This qualitative study used a descriptive phenomenological design informed by Husserlian phenomenology and Colaizzi’s seven-step method. Thirty-two adolescents (26 girls, 6 boys) were purposively recruited from health centers affiliated with Bam University of Medical Sciences. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted by frontline health-service psychologists and analyzed using MAXQDA. Trustworthiness followed Lincoln and Guba’s criteria, including member checking, peer debriefing, an audit trail, and reflexive notes. Sampling continued until data sufficiency; no new meanings or subthemes emerged after 32 interviews. Six meaning structures emerged: (1) family as tension and emotional unsafety; (2) economic hardship as shame and exclusion; (3) emotional suffering and self-harm; (4) school as pressure and potential support; (5) protective connections and anchors of hope; and (6) perceived entrapment and loss of future. These are participants’ narrated experiences and perceived contributors, not established causes. Adolescents’ accounts suggest suicide attempts were experienced within accumulating familial, economic, emotional, school, and relational difficulties, culminating in perceived entrapment and loss of meaning. Prevention should be multi-level and trauma-informed, but conclusions must remain cautiously grounded in lived experience.