One of the first and most common sentiments survivors of suicide loss will share is that they don’t know how a loved one could have taken their own life, or why they did. On the surface, there appeared to be no signs or symptoms. And, the idea of suicide was never mentioned. Many times, the person who took their life was by all accounts the life of the party – a happy go lucky individual who had everything.
When I am sharing my story, I always ...
Digging for Details Around a Loved One’s Suicide
When facing the loss of a loved one to suicide, I’ve observed two camps of survivors – those who want to try and understand every detail surrounding the final act, and those who never want to know those details. I happen to fall into the former category.
In the hours following my dad’s death, I became desperate for answers. He never clued us in that anything was wrong or that suicide was something he’d ever entertained. What I knew right away ...
Can you be predisposed to suicide?
As I continue to analyze the reasons my dad chose to take his life, I have learned and read a lot about some people simply being more “predisposed” to suicide. This has come up during conversations with my grief counselor and I remain intrigued by the possibility. I also want to better understand what this predisposition actually means. (I found this article about “The Genetic Basis for Suicidal Behavior” in Psychiatric Times, but haven’t made my ...