Background: Every forty seconds, a person takes their own life somewhere in the world, because their suffering is so vast that they no longer want or bear to live. Many of those who try to end their lives have been in contact with health care, but for some reason they have not received the help they needed. For this reason, there is a need for a deeper understanding of how suffering can be alleviated and how hope can be instilled.

Aim: The aim of this study was to describe the suicidal patient's experiences from the encounter with healthcare personnel.

Method: A qualitative approach was used to conduct the literature-based study. Ten articles were analyzed using Friberg's five-step model.

Results: The analysis resulted in two main themes: the one who feels broken can be healed and the helping hand. Five subthemes aroused from the main themes: to feel or not to feel confirmed in the suffering, the experience of having or not having a human value, to feel or not to feel involved, to feel or not to feel lonely, the vicarious hope.

Conclusion: The results show that the healthcare personnel have a significant role, and that their treatment in the encounter is decisive for whether the suicidal patient experience hope or despair. A conclusion that can be drawn is that the suicidal patient has a need to be seen, heard and validated in their suffering. When this does not happen, the patient is left alone and abandoned in their suffering with a feeling of not being able to be helped, with an increased risk of suicide as a result.