Distinguishing the meaning making processes of survivors of suicide loss: An expansion of the meaning of loss codebook

Abstract

Suicide loss represents particularly a difficult form of bereavement due to the challenges that volitional death poses to survivors. Understanding these challenges requires recognition of the idiosyncratic processes of meaning reconstruction for this specific group of grievers. The current study investigates such processes in survivors of suicide loss (SOSL) by utilizing the Meaning of Loss Codebook (MLC) to analyze the narratives of eight SOSL. The findings contribute to a broader understanding of meaning making following suicide, strengthen the validity of the MLC by demonstrating its appropriateness for SOSL, and illuminate unique challenges faced by SOSL, resulting in the proposal of supplemental MLC codes. Research and clinical implications are discussed.