Suicide around the anniversary of a parent’s death in Sweden

Objective  To investigate whether the risk of suicide increases among adult children around the anniversary of a parent’s death. Design, Setting, and Participants  This case-crossover study used Swedish register-based longitudinal data from 1990 to 2016, based on the entire national population. Participants included all adults aged 18 to 65 years who experienced parental death and subsequently died […]

Suicide around anniversary times.

The anniversary of the loss of a loved one is known to induce negative emotions, which for some can be significant. The present study examined the incidence of suicide around the time of such anniversaries using data from the Queensland Suicide Register for the years 1998 to 2008. There were statistically significant increases in suicide […]

But I Didn’t Say Goodbye: Helping Children and Families After a Suicide (2nd Edition)

This book is written as seen through the eyes of an 11-year-old boy whose father died by suicide. It starts by discussing the family immediately after the suicide & ends five years later. The first chapter focuses on the strain associated with telling a child someone they loved died by suicide while the last chapter […]

Thorns of a Rose. The Aftermath of Suicide: a Sister’s Journey of Recovery

This book is a compilation of letters the author wrote to her brother after his death by suicide.

Being Diligent – Moving Beyond Crisis

~

A Son’s Suicide, a Father’s Grief

Good Grief

~

SOS and the Retelling of Suicide

Based on a micro-study drawn from the author’s personal journals & an analysis of the national organization’s printed materials, this article explores how a particular view of the ‘self’ functions in a group where stories of tragedy are told. An interpretive analysis of the self-help process, as experienced in an SOS (Survivors of Suicide) group, […]

But I Didn’t say Goodbye: for Parents and Professionals Helping Child Suicide Survivors

~

Reenacting Suicide

This article is written by a woman whose father committed suicide at the age of 46, when she was 21. He had been struggling for many years with undiagnosed depression & alcoholism. Now, at the age of 46, she reflects on the suicide & her own depression due to bipolar disorder. The realization that her […]

Disaster Response and Recovery: a Handbook for Mental Health Professionals

Recovering From the Loss of a Parent

On the basis of discussions with sons & daughters, this book explores the emotions that arise after a parent dies. Stories of how ordinary people overcame their anguish are interspersed throughout the text. Part 1 discusses topics such as the emotions of grief, the trauma of holidays & anniversaries, coping with the surviving parent, & […]

Understanding Loss: a Parents’ Guide

This pamphlet is aimed at adults to help prepare children for grief & loss. Symptoms of grief include depression, guilt, weight change, doubt & poor concentration. Grieving is often more intense on anniversaries. At first, most of a person’s energy is channeled towards grieving/readjustment. It is good for an adult to allow children to see […]

The Mourning Handbook: a Complete Guide for the Bereaved

This handbook on grief is arranged in a manner that will enable the reader to go directly to the topics of greatest importance to them. Chapters include: facts about grief; preparing for a death; funeral preparations; mourning; reminders of the loss, e.g. holidays; the death of significant others & different types of death, such as […]

The Role of the Clergy for Survivors of Suicide (IN: Clergy Response to Suicidal Persons and Their Family Members, edited by D C Clark)

This chapter discusses the meaningfulness of funerals, rituals & anniversaries for suicide survivors. The author shares his belief that a death by suicide should be interpreted in terms of its medical rather than moral implications for the benefit of surviving members. He notes that the clergy play a variety of roles in the grieving process […]

A Time to Mourn: Death and the Family Life Cycle (IN: Living Beyond Loss. Death in the Family, ed. by M McGoldrick & F Walsh)

The meaning & consequences of loss vary depending on the particular phase of life cycle development the family is negotiating at the time of the loss. Keeping this in mind, the authors discuss loss from the perspective of the timing of loss in the family life cycle & loss at different family life cycle stages. […]

Anniversary Reactions and Due Date Responses Following Abortion

Of 83 women who responded to surveys exploring postabortion coping, 30 reported anniversary reactions. Women in this group more often reported ambivalence about the decision to abort. This group also acknowledged fewer suicidal thoughts & attempts, but expressed more concern about verbally abusing their children. Strong trends toward dependency & somatoform disorders were present among […]

Birthdays. A Special Kind of Anniversary Reaction

There is limited documentation on the significance of birthdays to a psychiatric population. A retrospective chart review on a sample of patient records, a review of records of 51 completed suicides & semi-stuctured interviews with day hospital patients were used to explore the possible relationship between birthdays & psychiatric morbidity. Birthdays may have clinical significance […]

Birthday and Date of Death

Suicide in the Elderly (IN: Recent Developments in Psychogeratrics: A Symposium, ed. by D W K Kay and A Walk)

In this study, the clinical & social data of 100 elderly suicide victims was compared with similar information from a random population sample, & from patients with depressive illness. The author discusses the impact of mental illness, physical illness, recent medical care, living alone, & anniversaries of significant bereavements. The author also discusses common symptoms […]

On Time, Death, and Immortality

Dr. George Pollock states that “The transitoriness of life, times’s inexorable march to death, has been a preoccupation of man from the beginning of time. “p.441” The psychological impact of, time on the unconscious is examined from a psychoanalytical perspective. 14 ref. (NBB)

Children’s Anniversary Reactions to the Death of a Family Member

The authors state that if childhood responses to bereavement become pathological in adulthood, it is essential that these early responses are studied & strategies developed for prevention. In an attempt to determine where reactions become problematic, 18 children (aged 4-17) were interviewed. 3 typical case histories are examined and common findings are discussed. The authors […]

Living With an Empty Chair: A Guide Through Grief