By Dana M. Cea — 2019
Each year, more than 40,000 people die from suicide in the United States, making suicide the 10th-leading cause of death in our nation. Worldwide, more than 800,000 people are lost to suicide annually.
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I grew up with mental illness in my family. I was the youngest of four siblings — Joan, Victor, Barbara and I — in a Syrian Jewish household. When I was young, Victor and Joan both died by suicide. These losses had, and continue to have, a profound impact on my life.
I slept a lot. I woke up each day wondering how soon I could go back to bed. Sleep medicine became part of my daily routine, and I didn’t see how this change was problematic. After all, it was just a lifestyle habit changed to cope after losing someone.
A Wall Street Journal article about the experiences of the bereaved prompted readers to write about their own losses.
I tried many of the supports available to help parents heal, like therapy, support groups, exercise and finding a way to honor our son’s memory.
Suicide, however, has been described as a death like no other ... and it truly is. Death by suicide stuns with soul-crushing surprise, leaving family and friends not only grieving the unexpected death, but confused and lost by this haunting loss.
Readers, some of them speaking from experience, discuss how family members are often blamed or feel they could have prevented it.
After briefly reviewing some of the empirical literature about differences between suicide bereavement and grief after other modes of death, the author argues that perhaps the most distinguishing and difficult aspect of a suicide loss is the “perceived intentionality” of the death, and the...
The recent, untimely deaths of Kate Spade, reportedly from depression-related suicide, and of Anthony Bourdain, also from apparent suicide, came as a surprise to many.
While I can’t speak for every person who has struggled with suicidal thoughts, I’ve spoken to enough survivors to know there are commonalities in how we’ve felt about the experience.