Survivor of Suicide Support
Losing a loved one is never easy, and the grieving process is painful. The loss of a loved one, by suicide is set apart by the complexity of the death and the struggles of the healing process.
Today many people are finding themselves dealing with suicide grief. As per information released one person loses their life to suicide every 40 seconds. That would mean that about 3000 die daily from suicide and over a million people die annually. For every person that dies by suicide 20 more attempt to take their lives. This leaves many families broken and with a complex grieving process.
https://www.gov.za/WorldSuicidePreventionDay2020
Suicide grief is different in the following ways:
- The stigma and shame that goes with suicide leaves many people feeling alone and scared to share detail surrounding the death. In many cultures and religions suicide is a total taboo.
- Suicide death often leaves the survivor with severe guilt.
- Suicide leaves behind many unanswered questions.
- Although there are known warning signs, many who die by suicide never show signs and it comes as a total shock to the family.
- Suicide often leaves a traumatic aftermath, with many survivors witnessing the death or finding the person.
- Unlike a murder, there is not a perpetrator to blame or be angry at.
- The survivor is left with multiple emotions affecting their self being. Feelings such as not being enough to keep the person alive is often present.
- Many survivors struggle with religious aspects, such as where their loved ones are now.
- Suicide survivors often feel like no one understands what they are going through, and many suicide survivors are blamed by others for not stopping the person or seeing the warnings signs.
Suicide survivors often need individual counselling as well as group support from others that have experienced similar loss.
If suicide survivors don’t get help, they often experience depression, suicidal thoughts and PTSD.