Suicide and other sudden death bereavement of immediate family members: An analysis of grief reactions six-months after death

Family members, relatives, friends, co-workers and community members may experience a variety of different reactions as a consequence of suicide of their loved one. Estimating the number of people impacted by a suicide death remains a challenge. The widely quoted estimate by Shneidman  (1972) of six people deeply affected by suicide is clearly an underestimate as shown in recent studies. For example, a study by Cerel et al. (2018) showed that on average 135 people are exposed to a suicide. A meta-analysis by Andriessen et al. (2017a) showed that 4.3% in the population were exposed to a suicide death (experienced a suicide among family or friends, or personally knew someone who died by suicide) in the previous year and more than a fifth over their lifetime.

Source: Journal of Affective Disorders - September 11, 2018 Category: Neurology Authors: Kairi K õlves, Qing Zhao, Victoria Ross, Jacinta Hawgood, Susan H Spence, Diego de Leo Source Type: research