Submitted by guest author Nicole L.
Last year, for Suicide Prevention Month, I wrote about how difficult and intrusive it feels to see suicide prevention campaigns in public. The desire to reframe these messages resonated with a lot of people, so I want to elaborate on some things I hope others will keep in mind when sharing suicide awareness content this month.
The factors that contribute to dying from suicide are exceptionally complex. ...
Keeping Guilt in its Proper Place: Healing After a Loved One’s Suicide
Submitted by guest author Laura A Thor, DMin, LCSW
It is important for those of us who've lost someone to suicide, that we examine the awful guilt we take on. We feel guilt when those we tried so hard to protect manage to escape our efforts to manage their depression, addiction or self-hate and despair. We feel guilt for what we could not control: their inability to keep themselves safe and have hope through perhaps years of suffering. ...
Why it’s impossible to understand their why.
The infamous, "Why?" Any survivor of a suicide loss knows how a word as simple as, "why" takes on more meaning in the aftermath of a suicide. The word can be consuming as you diligently work to uncover the reason "why" your loved one felt that life was too hard to go on. It's exhausting. You find a piece of the puzzle only to then realize how many more are missing. There is never a sense of accomplishment. Every answer seems to lead to a new ...
The Blame Game.
`Guilty until proven innocent?
In the aftermath of suicide, most survivors discuss their grief at some point. (If you haven’t gotten that far and are reading this post, that’s ok.) Some discuss anger and feelings of betrayal. The guilty feelings, that I assume some feel, are swept to the darkest, furthermost corners of our minds, never to be spoken. The place that you only allow yourself to go occasionally, because the thought is too painful for ...
When Feeling Right, Feels So Wrong
We all pray for that moment, the moment when our loved ones suicide no longer occupies every minute of our day. Yet when it happens, we often experience an overwhelming amount of guilt. This guilt feels different from the guilt that remains after someone ends their life. We want to feel better; yet feeling right, often feels so wrong.
If you haven't experienced a suicide, you simply can't understand. Everyone tells you that your loved one ...
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