Resource Tag: SURVIVORS

This two-part report examines important aspects of survivor of suicide support groups: some of the motivating factors attracting survivors to join these groups and why many withdraw as time after a loss passes. From a variety of data sources, including survey data collected from 462 parents losing a child to suicide, participant observation data (collected […]

Background: Religion and spirituality can be valuable resources in coping with bereavement. There is a paucity of studies focusing specifically on their role in suicide bereavement, although there are indications that religion/spirituality can be helpful for suicide survivors. Aims: The study explores the role of religion and/or spirituality in suicide bereavement by analyzing this theme in online memorials […]

Background: Since the seminal publications of Shneidman (1969) and Cain (1972), suicide bereavement and postvention have attracted increasing research interest. Aims: To examine the topics of suicide bereavement and postvention in the core international suicidology journals, since their inception until mid-2013, in order to reveal the number of postvention articles throughout the years, their geographic distribution, and the […]

Background: Bereavement following suicide is associated with an increased vulnerability for depression, complicated grief, suicidal ideation, and suicide. There is, however, a paucity of studies of the effects of interventions in suicide survivors. Aims: This study therefore examined the effects of a cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)-based psychoeducational intervention on depression, complicated grief, and suicide risk factors in […]

Background: South Korean society faces a serious challenge in the increasing rates of youth suicidal behavior. There is a need both to gain a better understanding of the causes of this behavior and to develop strategies for responding to this critical public health issue. Aims: This article analyzes how psychological, sociopsychological, and subcultural factors influence […]

Background: While the research literature exploring suicide bereavement has expanded in recent years, this has been primarily quantitative and has focused more on the bereavement experience of parents and siblings. The bereavement experience of young people affected through the suicide death of a friend remains under-conceptualized and not well understood. Aims: To develop an understanding of the […]

Background: Historically, people who die by suicide and those who survive them have been perceived more negatively than those affected by other types of death (e.g., Reynolds & Cimbolic, 1988). Yet, it is unclear whether these negative perceptions actually lead to decreased social and emotional support for people bereaved by suicide. Aims: To examine whether specifying suicide […]

Background: “A person’s death is not only an ending: it is also a beginning – for the survivors. Indeed, in the case of suicide, the largest public health problem is neither the prevention of suicide (…), nor the management of attempts (…), but the alleviation of the effects of stress in the survivor-victims of suicidal deaths, […]

Background: Despite numerous studies that have assessed emotional reactions of people bereaved by suicide, many questions in this field are not yet clarified. Aims: The purpose of the present study was to explore how emotional reactions of those bereaved by suicide depend on their gender, the relationship to the deceased, the consequences (“only negative,” “negative and positive,” […]

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 […]

Background: Suicide-loss survivors (SLSs) are recognised as an at-risk population for several psychiatric complications, including complicated grief (CG) and depression (SI). However, whereas shame is known as one of the characteristics of this population, knowledge about possible psychological processes which may moderate the contribution of shame levels to CG and depression in the aftermath of suicide […]

Background: This study aims to evaluate suicidal ideation, depression, and insomnia among parent survivors of adolescents who died by suicide and their relevant risk factors using psychological autopsy results from South Korea. Methods: The participants were 42 parent survivors (10 fathers and 32 mothers) of 35 adolescents who died by suicide. We used the Patient […]

Background Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the United States, with over half of cases involving firearms. Despite research indicating negative effects of exposure to suicide, there is little research on who typically finds the body of the suicide decedent. Understanding who finds the body of the suicide decedent may be important […]

In the case of violent/traumatic loss due to a completed suicide, there can be an overwhelming and complicated grief reaction followed by a spiritual need for the process of sense making and finding meaning. Some emerging literature on suicide loss survivors (SLSs) denotes that suicide loss is more similar to other forms of bereavement but […]

The author has been a grief therapist in private practice for almost 40 years. The largest percentage of his clients have been suicide loss survivors, and in this article, the author reflects on the “lessons learned” about how grief therapy with survivors is both the same as, and very different from, work with clients bereaved […]

Objective To evaluate the impact of a 6-h traumatic loss training program on organ procurement personnel attitudes, confidence, and knowledge about suicide loss and best practices in supporting survivors. Organ procurement personnel may be uniquely positioned to deliver supportive programming as they have early access to suicide loss survivors (i.e., within hours or days of […]

This research report on the Impact of Suicide in the UK was published on 18th November 2020. It has been led by University of Manchester in collaboration with the SASP. It shows a poignant, personal and full picture of the impact of suicide on the lives of individuals, families, colleagues and professionals. It recognises progress made […]

Objective The loss of a friend or family member to suicide, i.e., surviving suicide, can be devastating. Yet, little is known regarding the support received by survivors of suicide. We aimed to examine the characteristics of survivors of suicide who sought counseling from a Danish volunteer organization. Method Data on all users of the Danish […]

Although it has been stated that the majority of suicidal people give definite warnings of their suicidal intention, a percentage of suicidal people may dissemble (or mask), possibly 20%. The aim of this psychological autopsy (PA) study was to explore the mask of suicide, examining age and sex of the decedent, and survivors’ relationship to […]

Background Suicide survivors are prone to elevated risk for several psychiatric and somatic complications, including complicated grief (CG) and depression. Recent studies have highlighted the possibility of posttraumatic growth (PTG) among suicide survivors. However, to date, no longitudinal study has focused on the relationships between CG and PTG among suicide survivors. Aims In this 18-month […]

A Storybook Project Initiative from the ASR Suicide Studies Collective at St. Michael’s Hospital. A collection of stories by those with lived experience of suicide loss and suicide.

Exposure to a suicide carries risks for loss survivors including significant and long-standing emotional distress. Early responders play a critical role in shaping survivors’ experience and trajectory for seeking support services. Yet, few prior studies explore the nuances of early responders’ interactions with loss survivors. The current study explored suicide-bereaved adults’ experiences with early responders […]

As the sun lowered in the sky one Friday afternoon in April 2006, acclaimed author Donald Antrim found himself on the roof of his Brooklyn apartment building, afraid for his life. In this moving memoir, Antrim vividly recounts what led him to the roof and what happened after he came back down: two hospitalizations, weeks […]