When Grieving a Suicide Death One May Experience the Following.
Fear and avoidance of grief and trauma-emotions, thoughts, memories, etc.
Shattered assumptions about the world, oneself, and others.Recurrent intrusive thoughts about the death.
These may manifest as the following, to name just a few: Potentially traumatic deaths can result in the compounding and intertwining of trauma and grief responses. So, regardless of the circumstances around the death, it is not a given that it will be experienced as traumatic. It's important to note: It is not the nature of a death that makes it traumatic, but how the event is interpreted and processed by the individual. Additionally, other traumatic loss risk factors are associated with suicide, such as feelings of blame, witnessing the death, and finding the body. This definition touches on many experiences common to a suicide death, including the death being sudden, untimely, violent, regarded as preventable, etc. “A death is considered traumatic if it occurs without warning if it is untimely if it involves violence if there is damage to the loved one’s body if it was caused by a perpetrator with the intent to harm if the survivor regards the death as preventable if the survivor believes that the loved one suffered or if the survivor regards the death, or manner of death, as unfair and unjust.” We typically use Wortman & Latack (2015)'s definition of traumatic loss: When a loved one kills themselves, the death is often experienced as traumatic. The time has come for us to choose language around suicide that does not condemn or stigmatize the person who has died or those who love them. Many in our society have yet to get this memo, but now you have. I know most of you are used to saying "committed suicide" and you certainly aren't alone. "She died by suicide" or "She took her life". When discussing an individual's death from suicide…ĭo say. Although there are many fine points to this conversation, I want to impress the following upon you: Progress, though, is multifaceted and-while our understanding of suicide has grown more compassionate-our language has not.įor this reason, organizations like the World Health Organization, National Institute for Mental Health, American Association for Suicidology, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and countless others have been working to shift suicide-related terminology. With this in mind, we recommend you learn what you can from your commonalities with other grievers, but take differences with a grain of salt.Īlthough we may have a long way to go in understanding suicide and effective suicide prevention, we have thankfully progressed far beyond the dark days when people considered suicide a crime or religious offense. We can talk in averages and generalities, but no article, grief theory, or set of symptoms will ever perfectly sum up your grief experience.Īnd although you might relate to aspects of another person's grief (and vice versa), no one can completely understand how anyone else feels. Although we can offer general thoughts on this subject, it is your insight that adds truth and nuance to this discussion and helps those facing similar circumstances feel less alone.įirst Things First, Our Usual Disclaimer…Īlthough commonalities exist amongst people who have experienced a specific type of loss, individual grief is unique to the person experiencing it and their relationship with the person who died. For those of you who know yourselves well enough to know you won't finish, I want to tell you that I will link to additional resources at the end of this post.Īlso, I want to invite anyone who has been touched by suicide to share your experiences in the comments below. I do realize, though, that some of you won't read this post all the way through. I won't waste time on introductions because there's a lot to cover. Surveys have shown that 40% of adults know at least one person who has died by suicide, and upwards of 20% of adults report their lives have been significantly impacted by suicide. This rate is equal to 1 death every 11 minutes. Sudden Loss, Suicide Death, Grief Articles for BeginnersĪccording to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 48,000 people died from suicide in the United States in 2018.
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