The Experience of Mourning after the Suicidal Death of a Loved One – Risk Factors and Ways to Support Suicide Survivors

Joanna Ruczaj

Abstract


The purpose of the article was to indicate the specifics of experiencing suicidal death of a loved one. The text deals with the problem of the taboo of the phenomenon of suicide and social stigmatization of suicides and their families. A meta-analysis of research reports devoted to understanding this issue was supported by the cited testimonies of people experiencing mourning after the suicide of a loved one. Differences in the experience of mourning after suicide and after death due to natural causes were considered. The subject of reflection are especially those aspects of the experience of close suicides that do not correspond to the socially approved patterns of experiencing mourning (including the lack of social approval for expressing emotions of anger and the experience of relief in the context of a loved one’s death). Based on the analysis of the presented materials, potential threats were identified that may affect this group of mourners. To this end, research on the risk analysis of mental disorders among suicide survivors was discussed. In the context of the observations made in the article, the effectiveness of the therapy Complicated Grief Treatment dedicated to working with this group of clients was considered.


Keywords


suicide; mourning; suicide survivors; therapy

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References


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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17951/j.2020.33.2.285-300
Date of publication: 2020-06-29 17:49:05
Date of submission: 2019-09-03 19:02:34


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