Shared Loss

On average 6 people are directly bereaved by each suicide. Whether you’re personally close with those people (i.e. family members) or not (i.e. that person’s best friend), you’re linked through this loss but will often react in very different ways.

We all deal with grief in our own way and there is no right or wrong way. Sometimes conversations with those people can be comforting, cathartic and healing, but other times they can present new challenges.

Conversations with people from different generations around suicide can be challenging, because of the changing mental health landscape and history of the stigma.

It's a weird concept because when we lose someone to suicide often there are people from every generation that are affected and sometimes if you lose a family member, the people that are feeling the most similar way to you are family members from all generations, but the way you handle the bereavement can be very different. Often younger generations want to be more open and vocal and older generations prefer to be more reserved.

Differences in shared loss can build tensions but it's important to remember that what connects you is the love you had for that person, not your grief because we all grieve in different ways! Again, if you want to help someone understand how you're feeling about it or want to bring up a difference you may have between you, then having a conversation about it can help.