Bereavement due to suicide

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Dying & bereavement >> Bereavement due to suicide >> Lost a partner, husband or wife >> Patricia - Interview 4 >> Patricia's children all reacted differently when they heard their father had died. She thinks she should have accepted the policeman’s offer to break

Patricia’s husband, Andrew, had had depression for years. A number of times he had taken an overdose or tried to gas himself and then sought help. In 1994 he died in a car, due to carbon monoxide poisoning. Patricia found support via Cruse & SOBS.

Dying & bereavement >> Bereavement due to suicide >> Lost a parent >> Ted - Interview 19 >> After a year of intense grief Ted only felt anger with his father for what his father had done.

Ted was 12 years old when his father took his own life by hanging. Ted’s family found it hard to talk about it and Ted lacked information. He felt intense grief during that first year. Ted has found help by researching his father’s life and through SOBS.

Dying & bereavement >> Bereavement due to suicide >> Lost a partner, husband or wife >> Marion - Interview 32 >> The children wanted to see their father’s body. Marion took them and thinks it was the right thing to do. She wishes she had made time to go again on

Marion’s husband took his own life in 1996. He had taken alcohol and analgesics and died from carbon monoxide poisoning. Marion and their four children were shocked and devastated. They found support from SOBS, professional counselling and Noah’s Ark.

Dying & bereavement >> Bereavement due to suicide >> Lost a partner, husband or wife >> Stephen - Interview 31 >> Stephen took his young daughters to see Gill after she died. He felt devastated but he says they weren’t upset by seeing their mother. They sprinkled

In June 2006 Stephen returned home to find his wife, Gill, hanging in the hallway. She had been diagnosed with severe depression. Stephen found help from family, friends & Cruse. His daughters have been helped by the Charity, See Saw.

Dying & bereavement >> Bereavement due to suicide >> Lost a partner, husband or wife >> Dolores - Interview 29 >> Dolores’ two-year-old son has some understanding of death. She will tell him more about the way her husband died when she feels that the time is right

Dolores’ husband, Steve, developed mental health problems soon after their baby was born. He fell from a bridge in 2005 and died soon afterwards. Dolores felt distraught and very sad. She has found help though a psychologist, and SOBS, and web sites.

Dying & bereavement >> Bereavement due to suicide >> Lost a child >> Bob - Interview 17 >> Bob’s granddaughter was four when his son died. She was told that he had died and she went to the funeral. When she was older, aged about ten, she was

In 1998 Bob’s son, Darren, died while on holiday in France. He died by hanging and the French police were sure it was suicide. Bob and his wife were shocked. They have found support via Compassionate Friends, SOBS and the internet group Parents of Suicide.

Dying & bereavement >> Bereavement due to suicide >> Lost a partner, husband or wife >> Paula - Interview 28 >> Paula told her five-year-old daughter that her father had died through illness. Sometime later she told her about the suicide. Paula thinks it is impo

Paula’s husband had been depressed for a number of years. In 2005 he took his own life by hanging. This was a huge shock to Paula. She had weekly counselling for 6 months. Since then she has also found the WAY foundation very helpful and supportive.

Dying & bereavement >> Bereavement due to suicide >> Lost a child >> Helen - Interview 6 >> Helen’s grandchildren asked many questions about their Aunt Charlotte’s death. As they get older they will be told more. Helen thinks children should

Helen’s daughter, Charlotte, had mental health problems. When Charlotte was 30 she was found dead in her flat. She may have taken an overdose or may have taken her own life. Helen has been well supported. She also finds comfort by helping homeless people.

Dying & bereavement >> Bereavement due to suicide >> Lost a partner, husband or wife >> Stephen - Interview 31 >> Stephen’s daughters were four and six when his wife died. At first he told them that their mother had been extremely ill, and that the illness in her

Dying & bereavement >> Bereavement due to suicide >> Lost a partner, husband or wife >> Stephen - Interview 31 >> About a year after his wife’s suicide, when Stephen’s eldest daughter asked questions about her mother’s death, Stephen told both the girls in more de

Dying & bereavement >> Bereavement due to suicide >> Lost a child >> Linda - Interview 35 >> Linda’s ten-year-old daughter was angry because she hadn’t immediately been told the truth about her sister’s death. Linda promised she would be hones

In 2005 Linda’s 13 year old daughter took her own life. Linda and her family were shocked. Linda still feels devastated, but more in control, and is back at work. She has found help thought a psychologist and has attended a SOBS conference.

Dying & bereavement >> Bereavement due to suicide >> Lost a partner, husband or wife >> Jacqui - Interview 30 >> After Mike died Jacqui told the children that their dad had died. The next day she told them that he had committed suicide. They listened quietly to w

Jacqui’s husband, Mike, had had mental health problems for some time. In 2006 Jacqui came home to find that Mike had died by suicide. He had hung himself. Jacqui has had counselling and has started her own email support group, Widowed by Suicide Support.

Dying & bereavement >> Bereavement due to suicide >> Lost a partner, husband or wife >> Marion - Interview 32 >> Marion called a friend to help her calm her ten-year-old son after she had told him the terrible news that his father had died. Her son was hysterica

Dying & bereavement >> Bereavement due to suicide >> Lost a child >> Jane - Interview 13 >> The grandchildren discussed their uncle’s death with other young members of the family, who then asked unexpected questions. Jane answered questions a

In 1984 Jane and Maurice’s son Tom took his own life by hanging. Jane and Maurice were shocked and devastated. Jane found support from friends. Counselling and a support group were also helpful.

Dying & bereavement >> Bereavement due to suicide >> Lost a partner, husband or wife >> Melanie - Interview 21 >> Melanie made a new will soon after her husband died. She was worried about what might happen to her children if she were to die too.

In 2006 Melanie’s husband, Simon, took his own life while the “balance of his mind was disturbed.” He jumped to his death. Melanie and her three young children were devastated. They have found help via counselling, support groups and the internet

Dying & bereavement >> Bereavement due to suicide >> Lost a partner, husband or wife >> Stephen - Interview 31 >> Stephen said that Gill’s funeral was ‘desperately sad’, but it was a ‘lovely day’. The church was packed. People came in bright clothes, and enjoyed t

Dying & bereavement >> Bereavement due to suicide >> Lost a partner, husband or wife >> Paula - Interview 28 >> After Paula’s husband died, the special bereavement unit at the local hospital gave her useful advice about what to tell her five year old daughter.

Dying & bereavement >> Bereavement due to suicide >> Lost a partner, husband or wife >> Melanie - Interview 21 >> After Melanie’s husband died she found help through Winston’s Wish. She took the children for assessment. A counsellor told her to be as honest as pos

Dying & bereavement >> Bereavement due to suicide >> Lost a partner, husband or wife >> Melanie - Interview 21 >> Winston’s Wish arranged a special ‘camp’ for the children and one for the adults. Melanie explains what happened during the weekend away. They all fou

Dying & bereavement >> Bereavement due to suicide >> Lost a child >> Kate - Interview 7 >> After her girls died, Kate’s seven year old son, Hannes, was seen by someone from Jigsaw4u, who suggested that he should see a child psychiatrist.

Kate’s life has been devastated by the deaths of two of her daughters. They took their own lives by hanging, in 2006 & 2007. Kate has had support from family, friends and the church and says that answering emails from members of POS has also helped.

Dying & bereavement >> Bereavement due to suicide >> Lost a partner, husband or wife >> Melanie - Interview 21 >> A CHUMS counsellor came to the home and saw the two older children individually. After that Melanie took the children to family sessions.

Dying & bereavement >> Bereavement due to suicide >> Lost a partner, husband or wife >> Stephen - Interview 31 >> After Gill died Stephen asked SeeSaw for help. He found their guidance invaluable. A volunteer from SeeSaw plays with the girls, or takes them out, or

Dying & bereavement >> Bereavement due to suicide >> Lost a parent >> Mike - Interview 9 >> Mike suggests that people should know what support is available for those bereaved by suicide and recommends the booklet “Help is at Hand” [see Resour

In 1972, when Mike was aged 18, his father took his own life. He died in his car by inhaling fumes from the exhaust. His death has had a huge impact on Mike’s life. Mike has done much to help others bereaved due to suicide, which has also helped him.

Dying & bereavement >> Bereavement due to suicide >> Lost a partner, husband or wife >> Stuart - Interview 22 >> Stuart had a young son when he lost his ex-partner. Suddenly he had full responsibility for his child. He makes many suggestions about caring for chil

Stuart had been separated from his partner, Anne, for 13 months, but saw her and their son regularly. He was deeply saddened when she took her own life by carbon monoxide poisoning in 2005. He feels isolated but has found help for his grief in many ways.

Dying & bereavement >> Bereavement due to suicide >> Lost a child >> Amanda - Interview 5 >> Make sure your other children know they’re still really special because it could almost seem that the dead child is more important than the ones you h

In 2005 Amanda’s son, Lori, took his own life. He was 21. Amanda thinks that sexual abuse may have been a reason for his suicide. She has found support via family, friends, church, internet [POS], Compassionate Friends, Papyrus, and psychotherapy.

Dying & bereavement >> Bereavement due to suicide >> Lost a parent >> Ted - Interview 19 >> Ted was only 12 when his father died. He says that if you are a survivor all emotions are valid and urges others to be honest with their children.

Dying & bereavement >> Bereavement due to suicide >> Lost a child >> Linda - Interview 35 >> When Chloe died, Linda’s other daughter was only ten. The school counsellor referred her to CAHMS, which provided counselling.

Support for children and young people

Dying & bereavement >> Bereavement due to suicide >> Telling children and young people about a suicide >> Telling children and young people about a suicide

Telling children and young people about a suicide

Support for children and young people

Telling children and young people about a suicide

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