Connection. Understanding. Hope.
International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day is an event in which survivors of suicide loss come together to find connection, understanding, and hope through their shared experience. This year, International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day is Saturday, Nov. 19.
Join us this month as we combat suicide – and come together for survivors of suicide loss.
Survivors of Suicide Loss
Support Groups
The Survivors of Suicide Loss Support Groups help loss survivors cope, connect, and work toward healing. Trained group facilitators are suicide loss survivors who know, firsthand, how difficult it can be to find your way after losing someone to suicide.
The groups are open to anyone 18 years or older who is grieving a loss due to suicide. The groups are free and confidential.
Complicated Grief
Survivors of suicide loss face a unique challenge when it comes to bereavement. They must manage:
- the grief of a sudden loss of a loved one,
- the stigma attached to mental health and suicide,
- and the effects of this type of loss on their own mental health.
Ten percent to 20 percent of these survivors will develop Complicated Grief, which is lasting distress that effects physical and psychological functioning well beyond typical grieving. Complicated Grief is associated with greater risk for PTSD, major depressive disorder, suicidal ideations, and suicide attempts.
Suicide affects everyone and can create cycles of distress.
A Mother’s Story of Loss
My son was 16 when he took his own life. After my loss, I did not believe there could be healing. I ate and ate and ate. I gained 65 lbs. I saw no future. But slowly, I came to realize this was my new life and I had to either embrace this or not.
A Daughter’s Story of Loss
It was early that Monday morning, and I was at my mother’s house, attempting to sleep in and get some much-needed rest. The house phone rang, waking me up. “Hello?” No one answered. Again, I asked, “Hello?” Still nothing.