Suicide Can Bring a Complicated Type of Grief

The path of grief is never a straight line. I got the call on a Wednesday evening from my husband. Earlier in the day, he had driven by a cliff where traffic had been stopped, with helicopters and fire engines on the scene. He had heard that a truck had gone over the cliff, but that’s all he knew. Later that day, he found out the truck had been driven by our friend. The place where it was driven off the cliff made it clear that it had been purposeful. The day before, I had heard news of Kate Spade’s suicide, and that same morning, had heard statistics on npr about the rising number of suicides in America, calling it an “epidemic.” The next day, I heard about Anthony Bourdain. The collective confusion and grief was accentuated by the suicide of our friend, who was only 46, and leaves behind two teenage daughters who will never really know the big-hearted, fun-loving, extreme athlete that was their father. Deep wells of grief sprang open inside of me for these girls—I know the pain and confusion of losing a father to suicide. My dad took his life almost five years ago and yet it feels like just last week when I come across an old friend and burst into tears at the memory of him. I don’t know if those moments of raw tenderness will ever stop. A friend recently told me that it is a sign of the love that I had for him- which is true- but I believe it’s more complicated. The path of grief is never a straight line. My father had been ill for years —a complicated illn...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Grief and Loss Publishers Spirituality & Health Suicide suicide crisis line suicide crisis text Source Type: blogs