Accessibility Tools
Content note: this article discusses suicide.
In anticipation of World Suicide Prevention Day, SANE Peer Ambassador Nick reflects on how anniversaries bring memories and regrets into sharp relief. Staying connected and a ritual trip helps him and his daughter Winnie on their bereavement journey.
It is a sobering fact that suicide is one of the most common causes of premature death among people with mental illness.
Loss caused by the suicide of a loved one with mental illness has a profound effect on families and friends. The bereaved often have to deal with a range of complex emotions including confusion, despair and anger both at themselves and at mental health services.
The grief people experience due to mental illness and death by suicide raises very complex topics. Many participants in the SANE Mental Illness and Bereavement workshop are particularly interested in new ways of thinking – or ‘models’ – of grief, and challenging the old assumption that people should simply ‘move on’.