What are the stages of grief when a loved one commits suicide?

Question

Does anybody know how to deal with it?

Answer 1

I think it is different grieving for some one who committed suicide. First was mental illness a factor? If the person checked out for no obvious reason it can be more difficult. I would get some counseling. I know that probably sounds like a generic answer but suicide is a very selfish choice on the person committing suicide unless mental illness played a factor. People who don't have mental illness have no idea what a person with it goes through. Especially if the MI is severe. After suicide love ones are left with the loss, and guilt of what could they have done. When in reality if the person gave no clue it would happen there was nothing anyone could do. A counselor can help you deal with the guilt, anger, and loss you will feel.

Answer 2

I am dealing with it. My father committed suicide a little over a year ago. The person who said suicide is immoral needs to 1. learn how to read and 2. walk a mile in that suicide victim's shoes. Moving on.... The grief process is Shock/Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance. Many people think that they come in that order, and that is not true. You can be angry one moment, in denial the next, and back to angry later on. You can be depressed and crying, then suddenly angry and raging. How to deal with it is a more complicated issue. There's no way around going through the stages. It's something you will deal with in some way for the rest of your life. But, you can do some things that will protect your emotional health as you work through it. 1. Pay attention to your moods. Pay attention to what you are thinking, how you are behaving - keep tabs on yourself. 2. Allow yourself to be in whatever stage of the process you are in. If you are depressed, cry. If you are angry, go for a walk. Yell. Hit a pillow. If you are in denial, don't beat yourself up to much about it, but try to gently make yourself face it. 3. Set limits. If you are depressed to the point that it begins to be unmanageable, or it is causing you to want to hurt yourself or others, or it is seriously affecting your quality of life, seek professional help immediately. If you are having any tendencies towards uncontrollable rage, same thing - anger is a very prevalent stage with a suicide. 4. Be creative. Make a scrapbook. Write letters to the person you lost. Keep a journal. Draw how you feel. Talk as much as you can about it. If you paint, do that... if you write fiction, incorporate that too... whatever creative energy you can express, go with that. I always recommend writing to the person and about the person in letters or in a journal. 5. There will be guilt almost every time with a suicide. You must not let that consume you. You may know intellectually that it's not your fault, and yet in your heart, you may still feel it is. "I could have..." "I should have..." It's normal, but it can be the most crippling emotion of all in this journey. You are not a perfect person, nor are you psychic. The fault does not lie with you, no matter what you may think to the contrary. Just because you had an argument once, or let the person down once... or just because there was something you conceivably "could have" done does not mean it's your fault that the person has died. Forgive yourself for whatever you need to forgive yourself for, and try to refrain from blame altogether. It's natural to try to find who to blame. Try your best to instead blame the depression, because that is the truth.

Answer 3

The stages of grief is similar to the stages of dying .... its Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance.

If it happened to you, you have my sympathy. It's hard but remember, time heals all wounds. Just be strong and pray to Him for strength.

Use this prayer:
" Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and wisdom to know the difference ."

Answer 4

Same as any other grief.

The stages are:

Denial and isolation - The "This can't be real" stage.: "This is not happening to me." "There must be a mistake"
Anger - The "Why me?" stage.: "How dare you do this to me?!" (either referring to God, the late person, or themselves)
Bargaining - The "If I do this, you’ll do that" stage.: "Just let me live to see my son graduate."
Depression - The "Defeated" stage.: "I can't bear to face going through this, putting my family through this."
Acceptance - The "This is going to happen" stage.: "I'm ready, I don't want to struggle anymore."

Answer 5

both my father and one of my cousins have committed suicide. i also was at a point in my life where i wanted to. when people do this they usually have something going really wrong going on in their life and they dont believe that they have any thing else to live for. sometimes people have mental disorders too and that doesnt help it any. my dad was schitzophrenic and he just couldnt take it any more.

Answer 6

denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance are the "by the book" stages.