A Message to Survivors of Suicide Loss

Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention (CASP)

If you are very new to the tragedy of suicide loss, despair may be your companion.  We hope you find some time to rest your burden and share it with those of us who need no explanation.  You are not alone.   The fact that someone died by suicide does not diminish our love for them, their value, the contribution they made to our families and communities and our right and need to celebrate and honour their lives and accomplishments.   It is how a person lived not how they died that defines someone.

Survivors are the most courageous people we know.  Be well, be peaceful, be hopeful.

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For Survivor Support Groups Across Canada click here

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Hope and Healing: A Practical Guide for Survivors of Suicide, Family and Friends

By Suicide Response Initiative of the Calgary Health Region
Download Free: Hope and Healing

This is a practical guide to help you through… the first few moments
then the first few hours
then the first few days
then the first few years
…after the suicide of someone you love.

This guide has been written with the help of many suicide survivors and the health professionals who work with them. We hope it will help you through this difficult time. Please share it with others who may benefit from the information. The guide focuses on the practical matters that survivors need to deal with after a suicide.

Download Free: Hope and Healing

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After a Suicide: A Practical and Personal Guide for Survivors of Suicide Loss

By Klinic Community Health Centre
Download Free:  After A Suicide: A Practical and Personal Guide For Survivors of Suicide Loss

This handbook was written to help you through the death by suicide of your loved one. It contains both practical and personal information, as well as a list of books, websites and support groups, that we hope will help you through your grief. Different parts of this resource may be of help to you at different times.

Immediately after a death by suicide, there are many practical matters that families will need to attend to and questions they might have about what to do. This resource starts with addressing these practical matters. Grief associated with a death by suicide can be complicated, and also very different to what people experience following death by other causes. Immediately after a suicide death, people are often in shock and unable to describe or explain their feelings or make meaning of what has happened. You may need time before you feel ready to examine what has happened, how it has affected you, what it all means, and what you need in order to begin healing.

Read the more personal information on suicide grief in this handbook when you are ready. Understanding and exploring your own thoughts and feelings might feel scary, but it is an important and necessary part of healing. You and only you will know when you are ready. As you read this, you may not even be aware that the process of healing has already begun. Remember, you are not alone.

Download Free:  After A Suicide: A Practical and Personal Guide For Survivors of Suicide Loss

Additional Resources

Teens Survivor of Suicide Loss Resources

Also recommend from the Dougy Centre:

Surviving the Holidays

Suicide Postvention in the Workplace

Advocacy: How to Tell Your Story Safely