Suicide Survivors’ Mental Health and Grief Reactions: a Systematic Review of Controlled Studies

This article provides a systematic review of suicide survivors’ reactions compared with survivors of other modes of death. Studies were identified using the PsycINFO & Medline databases. 41 studies met the eligibility criteria. A qualitative data analysis was performed. There were no signficant differences between the groups regarding general mental health, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, anxiety, & suicidal behaviour. Considering specific grief variables, suicide survivors reported higher levels of rejection, shame, stigma, need for concealing the cause of death, & blaming than all other survivor groups. (61 refs.)