• Clip
• Dying & bereavement >> Bereavement due to suicide >> Lost a partner, husband or wife >> Jenny - Interview 1 >> Jenny’s husband was diagnosed with bipolar disorder just before he died. Jenny says he was a perfectionist and may not have been able to face the idea

Jenny’s husband had had episodes of depression. In 2007 he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Five days later he took his own life. Jenny has had support from family, friends, the WAY foundation and Cruse. Her baby is also a great comfort to her.

• Dying & bereavement >> Bereavement due to suicide >> Lost a child >> Felicity - Interview 2 >> Felicity describes what happened when her daughter, Alice, first became ill with bipolar disorder.

Felicity and Alex had a daughter, Alice. She had depression as a teenager, and was eventually diagnosed with bipolar disorder. In 2004, at the age of 22, she took her own life. Felicity has found support from family, friends, her GP and Cruse.

• Dying & bereavement >> Bereavement due to suicide >> Lost a child >> Felicity - Interview 2 >> Felicity and Alex talked to Alice about her bipolar disorder. Alice found it hard to accept that she would have to live with it.

Felicity and Alex had a daughter, Alice. She had depression as a teenager, and was eventually diagnosed with bipolar disorder. In 2004, at the age of 22, she took her own life. Felicity has found support from family, friends, her GP and Cruse.

• Dying & bereavement >> Bereavement due to suicide >> Lost a partner, husband or wife >> Patricia - Interview 4 >> Patricia does not think her husband meant to kill himself. She describes the second “incident” and says that each time Andrew harmed himself “the act

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 child >> Amanda - Interview 5 >> Two and a half months before he died, Amanda discovered that her son had been sexually abused. She thought this might have contributed to his death.

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 child >> Colin - Interview 24 >> Colin and Barbara’s son, Matt, was not happy as a junior doctor. He found it hard to cope without enough support. Colin believes that this contributed

Colin & Barbara’s son, Matt, found his first job as a junior doctor very stressful. In 1992 Matt was found dead in a crashed car; probably due to suicide. He was aged 24. Colin & Barbara were devastated. Colin found help from friends and family.

• Dying & bereavement >> Bereavement due to suicide >> Lost a child >> Jane - Interview 13 >> Jane thinks that her son Tom had been bullied at school and was a ‘bit of a depressive’. His unhappiness might have had various reasons.

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 parent >> Mike - Interview 9 >> Mike’s thinks his father was unhappy at the time of his suicide: He had had an unhappy second marriage and had been made redundant at work.

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 >> Jacqui - Interview 30 >> Jacqui’s husband worried about everything: he had been diagnosed with depression and anxiety.

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’s husband had not told her about his financial worries or history of mental health problems.

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 >> Paula - Interview 28 >> Paula thinks her husband was depressed and that that he experienced paranoid delusions at the time of his suicide.

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 parent >> Ted - Interview 19 >> Ted’s father had had episodes of depression ever since he suffered post-traumatic stress from wartime experiences.

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 child >> Susan - Interview 20 >> Explains why her daughter Rose became suicidal. Rose was first diagnosed with depression and later with bipolar disorder. Rose lost all hope that she

In 2005, Susan’s daughter, Rose, took her own life. She shot herself. Rose had had anorexia and then depression, and was later thought to have bipolar disorder. Susan feels angry because she believes that NHS psychiatric services were inadequate.

• Dying & bereavement >> Bereavement due to suicide >> Lost a partner, husband or wife >> Stephen - Interview 31 >> Stephen’s wife had been diagnosed with depression. He thought she probably had bipolar disorder.

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 >> Stuart - Interview 22 >> When Anne was told she had chronic somatisation she realised that she might not get relief from her symptoms. This might have made her decide to end h

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 >> Susan - Interview 8 >> Explains why she thinks two of her sons committed suicide. Stephen had paranoid schizophrenia. Both boys took drugs such as cannabis and both had beco

Two of Susan’s sons have taken their own lives by hanging. Barry died in 1995 and Stephen died in April 2006. Susan has had support from various sources. She is still grieving but feels she must “move on” for the sake of her other children.

• Dying & bereavement >> Bereavement due to suicide >> Lost a child >> Helen - Interview 6 >> Helen’s daughter Charlotte often felt depressed. She took cannabis and heroin and died of a heroin overdose.

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 friend >> Ann - Interview 10 >> Ann’s friend had chronic fatigue syndrome. Doctors said they were unable to help her and she felt she was becoming a burden.

Ann’s friend died in 2003. It appears that her friend died from an overdose and exposure. Ann has found support through her faith in God, from counselling & from her GP. She has set up a support group for others, linked to SOBS. She finds this comforting.

• Dying & bereavement >> Bereavement due to suicide >> Lost a parent >> Susan - Interview 36 >> She accepted her father’s decision to take his own life. He had incurable stomach cancer and did not want to return to hospital.

In 2001 Susan’s father jumped to his death. He was 78 and had terminal cancer and did not want to die a painful, lingering death. Susan felt comfortable with his decision, but wishes he could have had an assisted death so he could have died less violently.

• Dying & bereavement >> Bereavement due to suicide >> Lost a parent >> Lynne - Interview 26 >> Lynne tried to make sense of what had happened. She wondered if her mother’s psychotropic medicines had been withdrawn too quickly.

In 1981, when Lynne was 19, her mother drowned in the bath at home. It seems that she took her own life. Lynne felt her mother had been let down by the professionals who had been involved in her care. She has found support from friends & colleagues.

• Dying & bereavement >> Bereavement due to suicide >> Lost a child >> Brenda - Interview 12 >> Brenda’s son was very depressed at times and said he felt suicidal. She was told he had bipolar disorder. He took an overdose but Brenda believes he j

In 2005 Brenda’s 21-year-old son sadly died in ICU. He had been depressed for some time and had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Now Brenda focuses as much as she can on remembering the good memories they all shared as a family.

• Dying & bereavement >> Bereavement due to suicide >> Lost a brother or sister >> Jasvinder - Interview 18 >> Robina was suffering “horrific domestic violence”. Jasvinder is convinced that her sister did not mean to kill herself. She believes that Robina’s act

Jasvinder’s sister, Robina, died in 1987 from burns. She had an unhappy marriage and told her husband she was going to take her own life. Jasvinder has kept her sister’s memory alive by setting up Karma Nirvana, a project that advocates for Asian people.

• Dying & bereavement >> Bereavement due to suicide >> Lost a child >> Kate - Interview 7 >> Kate is sure that her daughters did not mean to kill themselves. Too much alcohol and other factors led to the tragic events.

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 child >> Linda - Interview 35 >> Linda can think of no reason for her daughter’s suicide. Chloe’s death shocked the family completely.

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 child >> Bob - Interview 17 >> Bob had no idea that his son, Darren, was depressed. Bob thinks that Darren may have found it hard to express his emotions because of the British atti

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 brother or sister >> Steve - Interview 25 >> Steve’s sister left detailed instructions about her funeral but she did not explain why she wanted to die.

Steve’s sister took her own life in 2006. She stepped in front of a train. She had had mental health problems for many years but was not receiving the care she needed at the time of her death. Steve was devastated. He has found most support from SOBS.