For Those Supporting The Bereaved
Through up-skilling and learning how best to support those around you, you are showing support.
Firstly let us say that the fact that you've reached out to find this guidance shows how much you want to support the person you know whose bereaved, and just in doing so, you're helping them!
By the nature of suicide bereavement none of us are ever prepared or know what to say so it's important to remember that often the person bereaved is struggling too.
Suicide is stigmatised, making it hard to talk about but the power of conversation is huge so we really do encourage you to have conversations. It's often not about the exact details of what you say, but just that you have the conversation, listen non-judgmentally and support them in their grief.
We've looked at the guidance and research out there and have worked with our network of individuals with lived experience to build the below advice. This is something we're going to continually build on and improve so that we can all benefit.
Language
To have conversations we need to have the language - obviously! But when someone is bereaved by suicide and you're supporting them you have to learn a new language that you have no previous knowledge of.
Questions
For someone supporting someone bereaved, we believe questions are the key! Starting a conversation can be daunting.
Key Tips
We understand that there's a lot of information and advice both within our guide and in other places so sometimes it's easier just to remember a few key things. We've highlighted a couple of tips that we think are the most impactful.
Triggers To Be Aware Of
This may sound silly but sometimes where you have a conversation can make all the difference. We often find that changing your physical location can really help instigate conversations and if you're struggling to talk, creating a situation where you don't have to look at the person in the eye all the time can help.