Death by suicide is barred none one of the most difficult ways in which a loved one can die. The aftermath presents an emotionally challenging situation for survivors of suicide loss. This includes facing the prospect of suicide cleanup following a traumatic death of this nature. Survivors of suicide loss, typically family members, face the tremendous task of seeing to the remediation of the scene. The additional emotional toll that suicide cleanup can vest upon survivors underscores the need for compassionate professional assistance.
Suicide is a major public health issue in the United States and in other countries around the world. Ultimately, understanding the facts and circumstances associated with a particular death by suicide are crucial. With that noted, considering broader statistics can also be illuminating and help us to better understand the pervasive nature of suicide in…
Researchers and suicidologists have determined that approximately 150 people are affected when a person dies by suicide. This number represents people who are more directly impacted by the death by suicide of someone with a connection in their lives. In addition to these individuals more directly affected, there is another cohort of people that are…
TAPS is the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors. Suicide deaths are the most common types of referrals made to TAPS. More information about TAPS itself is presented in a moment. Through its work with survivors of tragic, untimely deaths of loved ones in the military services, the organization created the TAPS Three-Phase Postvention Model. The…
Suicide postvention is defined as activities that are designed to reduce risk and promote healing in the aftermath of a death by suicide, according to the Suicide Prevention Resource Center. There are a set of principles associated with suicide postvention. These postvention principles are: Public health problem Appropriate grief process Proper suicide prevention actions Suicide…
As part of suicide postvention, it is important to understand how a death by suicide impacts certain cohorts of people. For example, the impact of a death by suicide is different on surviving family members than it is on professional colleagues. The Suicide Ecological Model is designed to assist in understanding how a death by…
When a loved one dies, those closest to the deceased individual nearly always have a desire to memorialize or commemorate the person who has passed on in some manner. For many people, there are religious traditions that form the basis upon which a deceased person is memorialized or commemorated. When a person dies by suicide,…
When a student dies by suicide, the school community needs to be defined from a broader perspective. The school community is not just the students and faculty at a particular school. Rather, the school community includes not only students and faculty at a specific school where a young person has died by suicide, but also:…
When a person dies by suicide, including a student or young person, that individual’s social media page or pages become virtual gathering points for family, friends, and others. Moreover, in addition to the deceased individual’s social media page or pages, social media more generally nearly always becomes active with posts and discussions regarding the specific…
The Riverside Trauma Center has developed a 10-component array of comprehensive primary postvention tasks that are recommended following the death by suicide of a student. The 12 primary postvention tasks are: Verify death and essential facts surrounding the death Coordinate internal and external resources Disseminate accurate information Specific support for those impacted by the death…
A 2011 study revealed that approximately 70 people are intimately or directly impacted by the suicide of a young person. Research further underscores that the effects of a young person’s death by suicide extend beyond more immediately or directly impacted survivors. A more comprehensive study on the subject indicates that 115 people are exposed each…