When a loss is due to suicide: Unique aspects of bereavement

Abstract

Although bereavement from suicide shares a common core of experience with other bereavement, there are unique features as well. These include stigma, feelings of blame and personal responsibility, other unusually strong emotional reactions, an exacerbated search for meaning, and deception about the cause of death. Bereaved persons also are misunderstood, and they face inappropriate comforting, which includes being asked intrusive questions, receiving sympathy from those who feel uncomfortable, and being offered diminished social support. Research on suicidal bereavement is often limited by its retrospective nature, biased respondents, noncomparable control groups, idiosyncratic dependent measures, and failure to examine family factors. These shortcomings are only now beginning to be addressed. Therapists for suicidally bereaved individuals should assess for suicide and refrain from overly ambitious goals and should consider referral to self-help groups that comprise individuals who have had similar experiences. Anyone trying to comfort suicidally bereaved individuals should offer emotional support, facilitate expression of feelings, bolster any existing religious beliefs, and refrain from blaming or asking intrusive questions.