Drive-In Vigil to Provide Support to Loved Ones of Those Lost to Suicide

September 10, 2020 by Leave a Comment

September 10th is World Suicide Prevention Day

Thursday, 10th September, ‘World Suicide Prevention Day’, will see the world’s first pop up drive-in cinema being erected by START a mental health charity, in Salford, to mark World Suicide Prevention Day with their annual Vigil of Remembrance. The Vigil of Remembrance will also be broadcast in a worldwide live stream by the charity.

An online YouGov survey, commissioned by the UK’s leading funeral provider Co-op Funeralcare, shows that in the weeks following the start of the UK’s lockdown on 23rd March, 47% of bereaved adults in Manchester have been denied their final farewell. The grief process is always difficult. But a loss through suicide is like no other, and grieving can be especially complex and traumatic. People coping with this kind of loss often need more support than others, but may get less.

What to Say to Someone Grieving … or Not Say

Death by suicide, even more than other types of bereavement, makes many people uncomfortable and unsure how to react. There is still a stigma attached to suicide, rooted in centuries of history and this generates misplaced associations of weakness, blame, shame or even sin or crime. This stigma can prevent people from seeking help when they need it and others from offering support …

Six Steps to Help Prevent Suicide – a great read from GriefHelp.org.

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Suicide Risk Rises Sharply. 6 Steps to Help Prevent Suicide

August 15, 2020 by Leave a Comment

The Covid-19 pandemic has put mental health for so many people at great risk.  Here are a few quick steps to get yourself on firmer footing.

  1. Get off social media.  The correlation between depression and anxiety and heavy social media usage is well documented.
  2. Explore nature.  Get out and enjoy God’s good earth.
  3. Walk every day.   Just a 30 minute walk goes a long way towards good health, physically and mentally.
  4. Socialize.  Make real social connections… in person.
  5. Read every day.  If you’re a Christian, start your morning each day by reading’s God’s Word.
  6. Start a Gratitude Journal.  If you’re reading this, you’re likely better off than 99% of the world’s population.  You have many blessings.  It helps to write them down and review them each morning or at bed time.

“A startling report released Thursday by the CDC found that 10.7% of Americans reported seriously contemplating suicide in the 30 days before the survey, issued over the last week of June, was conducted.

Grief Help logoThat’s in contrast to the 4.3% who reported the same thing over the course of 2018. The percentages were far higher in certain populations, including ethnic and racial minorities, and essential workers.

The report, which surveyed 5,412 Americans, also found that about a quarter had symptoms of anxiety and about the same percentage had symptoms of depression.”

Read the rest about the rising suicide risk due to Covid-19 pandemic decisions.

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Grief Help: Using Writing to Help Us Process Our Sorrow

July 10, 2019 by Leave a Comment

Using Writing to Help Us Process Our GriefEight months after John died, Neustadter started sending emails to his old Yahoo address, because “communicating with John was truly the only thing I wanted to do at that time,” she said. It gave her a way to keep the conversation alive.

“And it felt symbolic and ritualistic to send an actual letter out somewhere into the unknown,” Neustadter said.

Neustadter also used writing to make sense of John’s suicide—why did he turn to suicide? what signs did she miss? She wrote down everything about John that she could remember.

Writing gave Neustadter “some sense of purpose.” She wanted to write the book she wished she’d had: “a book about a young woman, effectively widowed at 29, struggling to make sense of the loss of her soul mate and why he took his life. There were a lot of parts to this, and I had a lot of questions. None of the books on grief that I found helped me with understanding how to navigate my loss.”

“If I could offer other women (or men) like myself a book that made them feel less alone and helped them navigate through traumatic grief, then maybe, just maybe, it would make my experience of John’s death worthwhile in some way.”

More on this Grief Help….

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Here’s How You Can Help a Loved One Cope with Suicide

February 18, 2019 by Leave a Comment

Four years ago, Ankita Shah* lost her father to suicide. For a long time after his death, she was in shock and felt lonely despite the support of her immediate family. It was only after she began seeing a mental health professional that her emotional state improved.

In India, more than 2.3 lakh people die due to suicide each year which means more than two lakh families have stories like Ankita’s. Their stories follow similar patterns: loneliness, shame, social stigma and isolation, guilt and several unanswered questions.

The stigma runs deep, and insensitive remarks are common after such a death.

Milind and Manisha Mhaiskar highlighted this in 2017, through an open letter they wrote to their deceased son in a newspaper.

Some said you were very strict with him, some said you gave too much liberty, could he not carry on with the burden of expectations?… Some said both [parents] are so busy, they may not be giving him time… you, me and mammu [mother], that was our world, how do we tell that to people?

Such comments can explain why not everyone is as candid as the Mhaiskar family. Ankita, for instance, didn’t want to speak about her father initially, and friends and family also kept a distance. This is why, she believes, it is time to talk about suicide. “If we are more open, we help people cope with their loss, and we help erase the shame,” says Ankita.

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NFL Star Opens Up About His Sister’s Suicide

September 25, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Solomon Thomas family

copyright Solomon Thomas family

“People ask me what my life is like now that she’s gone. On the one hand, I’m thankful for each day I get to still be alive. I’m beyond blessed. I have two beautiful parents; I went to my dream college; and now I get to play football for a living. I know how lucky I am. But I’m also struggling every day. Sometimes life just sucks and I go to a dark place. She was my best friend and my only sister, and I won’t ever get to talk with her again. I just want her back, and there’s nothing I can do about it. The days are hard. The nights are … ”

49ers defensive end Solomon Thomas opens up about his loss concerning his sister’s suicide

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