Sep 03 2007
Survivors of Suicide: family, friends, and significant others
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the American Suicidology Association estimate that for every completed suicide there are 6 survivors. Therefore, in the last 25 years there have been approximately 25 million survivors of suicide.
Survivors here is defined as those parents, siblings, children, other family members and friends who survive after a person commits suicide.
The grief and loss experienced by survivors is often very intense. Common feelings are shock, guilt, despair, confusion, self-blame, abandonment, among many others.
The path to recovery for survivors is complicated and there is no specific time frame.