Killing oneself is not illegal in Canada, but helping someone to commit suicide is against the law. So Susan Griffiths, a seventy-two-year-old Canadian, went to a clinic in Zurich, Switzerland for the right to die on her own terms, with the help of a doctor, before her body could be completely taken over by multiple […]

Loved ones left behind after suicides have one striking thing in common: the way they talk about suicide. Rather than saying someone “committed suicide,” they will say that a person “died of” or was “lost to” suicide. They pick up the pieces of their lives and live in a very isolated and lonely place, often […]

Counseling is such a wonderful tool when you are grieving! So I encourage you to seek out professional help for both yourself and for your child! And as you try to go about your life, here are a few helpful strategies: (There really are so many more…and the following ideas can also help children who […]

For parents, the death of a child is probably the most painful loss imaginable. For parents who’ve lost a child to suicide, the pain and grief may be intensified. Although these feelings may never completely go away, survivors of suicide can take steps to begin the healing process: Maintain contact with others. Suicide can be a […]

No one knew the torment, that you were going through; We only kept on seeing What we really wanted to. We saw the outward smile, but not your inner pain; We never really dreamt, That you would never smile again. Forgive us if we failed to see, What we could do to aid; Or if […]

Sometimes when a stranger commits suicide and you accidentally see it, you can be haunted with an image of the death act and what the person looked like as they did it—it can create a lasting emotional effect on you (it can effect your self esteem and self worth) and it can create physical symptoms […]

My apologies if the graphic material in this Blog post offends, but many people have shared what they thought were strange reactions…and they wanted to know if they were “normal” or if they were “losing it”. First off, there is nothing weird about the way people grieve—there is nothing shameful about what survivors of suicide […]

“I’ve lived my life according to experiences, so I think I’m about 18 hundred years old,” said Charlie “Tremendous” Jones in July. “I’ve had 81 fantastic years,” he said, “And I’m tired.” With family members at his side, Charlie succumbed to his inoperable lung tumor and “triumphantly entered the gates of Heaven” at 4pm, October […]

Now I think if my sister, Cindy James, had killed herself and planned it, on some levels it would not have been easy (so much to consider!): She would have had to spend time weighing up the different methods and making it look like murder because, after all, if she just wanted to take her […]

Not all suicides are planned in advance (not everyone leaves suicide notes or arranges their affairs). So some people who attempt suicide mean to die (and are disappointed when it fails) and some don’t (and are relieved when it doesn’t work). And some haven’t really made up their minds (they don’t care). Many young people […]