Stories about Loss Survivors
If I Knew Then What I Know Now: “Finding Hope” for Those Caring for Someone at Risk of Suicide
I was privileged to be involved in the pilot of one of AFSP’s newest programs, Finding Hope: Guidance for Supporting Those at Risk. The goal is to provide practical guidance to those caregivers who have suicidal thoughts and/or have survived a suicide attempt, whom we refer to as those with “lived experience.”
Suicide Loss and the Holidays: Tips From a Suicide Researcher and Grief Clinician
As a psychologist who works with suicide loss survivors, I have focused on the idea of unconscious grief processes, which allows people to adopt a more accepting attitude towards their grief and healing. This concept can be particularly helpful during the holidays, which often bring in so many difficult expectations.
Bringing Hope and Suicide Prevention Resources to Veterans and Military Members
To me, AFSP is the embodiment of effective leadership. Every volunteer can use their strengths and contribute in whatever capacity suits them. It’s a privilege to help Veterans and military members connect and engage openly about mental health.
Making College Campuses Safer From Suicide
Suicide is one of the most common causes of death among U.S. college students. Each year, approximately 24,000 college students attempt suicide. 1,100 students do not survive their crisis, making suicide the second-leading cause of death among U.S. college students. Yet research shows that suicide is often preventable.
Redefining Strength after Losing My Uncle to Suicide
I want others to know that having difficult experiences with mental health does not mean that you are alone. I had always wanted to be a part of suicide prevention efforts, and in 2022 I walked for the first time in one of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s Out Of the Darkness Community Walks.
To Make Sense of My Mother’s Suicide, I Had to Understand My Own Relationship to Mental Health
When I was 14 years old, I lost my mother, Sabrina Jones, to suicide. Up until my mom's death, I did not understand to what extent mental health could affect your everyday life, including my own.
Coping With Suicide Loss While Managing an Eating Disorder: How Losing One Friend Helped Me Show up for Another
One month before I flew cross country to enter residential treatment for an eating disorder in May 2013, my friend and college varsity tennis teammate Paige died by suicide. This suicide loss, and my eating disorder recovery journey, fundamentally changed my values and who I was as a person.
We Need to Do This for Dad
This year I will have lived my life longer without Tom than with him. But he is with me every time I tell his story, train a suicide prevention class, visit with a suicide loss survivor, and attend an Out of the Darkness walk.
Vulnerable in My Truth: Making a Difference for Suicide Prevention in Honor of My Father
I found my way to AFSP the year after my father died by suicide, and have participated in the organization’s Out of the Darkness Walks every year in his honor. It is important for me to keep his legacy alive and increase awareness of the warning signs of suicide.
AFSP Sponsoring the American Association of Suicidology’s Healing After Suicide Loss Summit
The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is honored to be a sponsor for the 56th annual American Association of Suicidology Conference, including the Healing After Suicide Loss Summit.
One Foot in Front of the Other: Training for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s Overnight Walk in Memory of Our Son
On November 27, 2001, my wife Mary Anne and I were notified that our son Matthew had died by suicide. After months of trying desperately to find our way, we heard about a new event sponsored by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention: the Out of the Darkness Overnight Walk.
Finding Strength Through Connection As a Healing Conversations Coordinator
My wife Alice and I had known each other for 35 years and been married for 33 years. Losing her to suicide in 2016 was a terrible, traumatic experience. It was the people I met through AFSP who convinced me to become involved as a volunteer. I realized that we gain more strength through connection.
To Turn a Personal Tragedy Into Triumph: Coping and Growth in the Aftermath of Suicide Loss
Every year, about 50 million people become part of a group known as suicide loss survivors. There is so much that needs to be done – and so much that can be done – to connect these loss survivors with support and understanding as they navigate the journey of coping with tragic loss.
Survivor Day Live and Día de Esperanza (Day of Hope) 2022
Supplementing local events for International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day in 2022, AFSP featured two national, online events. These special presentations have been recorded, and are available to watch now.
10 maneras de apoyar a un ser querido que ha perdido a alguien por suicidio
Le recomendamos 10 formas de apoyar a un ser querido que ha perdido a alguien por suicidio.
Losing Multiple Family Members to Suicide: Eight Concepts That Have Helped Me Heal
Over the years, I have come to understand certain things that have been helpful in my own personal journey of healing. I share them in hopes of helping others who have lost someone they care about to this leading cause of death.
Healing Starts with a Conversation: Finding My Purpose as a Survivor
I began to understand that my mom’s suicide wasn’t the end of my life, but the beginning of me finding my purpose. I am now the Board Chair for the Central Texas Chapter
Reclaiming Laughter After Suicide Loss
After my husband Victor died by suicide, I thought I would never laugh again. I mean, why would I? Death is devastating. My partner for 30 years was gone. That’s bad enough but the type of loss – suicide – felt like it had doubled that devastation.
Does Everything Really Happen for a Reason?
While I still struggle with the concept of whether everything happens for a reason, my own experiences have led me to this conclusion: that while we cannot ever fully control the negative experiences that happen in our lives, we can use them to shape our lives and paths for the better.
I Walk Because My Life is Worth Living
I walk because suicide prevention matters to me and isn’t spoken about enough. No one should suffer alone or in silence. I walk because my passion in life is to share my experiences in hopes that they can help someone else.
AFSP National Board Member Chris Thomas Testifies for Suicide Prevention in Memory of Daughter Ella
AFSP National Board member, Chris Thomas, delivered powerful testimony before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce last Thursday, February 17, 2022, about the urgency of reforming and investing in systems that support mental health and suicide prevention.
The Biggest Case of My Life
An attorney shares his story of healing and finding hope through advocacy after his father died by suicide.
Finding Peace After a Suicide: One Walker's Healing Journey in Nature
An ode to the out of darkness community walks and the joy of finding peace and healing in nature after loss.
Facing the Pain
My first suicide attempt happened at age 13. When I left the hospital, I told my parents about the sexual abuse. I was asked to “pretend it didn’t happen.” Drugs and alcohol became my solution, and – in a way – kept me alive for many, many years.
The Long-Term Journey of Healing from Suicide Loss
I joined the “survivor of suicide loss club” on November 10, 1988. I was a junior at the University of Maryland and my family lived in Cleveland. I got the phone call that would forever change my life. My brother, Brian, had taken his life at 23 years old.
Suicide Prevention in Iraq: Turning Loss into Action
Suicide is still a taboo issue in the Iraqi society. Many in Iraq still feel shame in admitting that they lost a loved one to suicide, or that they’ve experienced difficulties in their own mental health, for fear of societal stigmatization.
When Hope Shows Up: Adapting International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day During the Pandemic
As volunteers with AFSP's San Diego chapter, the pandemic has meant we have had to adapt all of our in-person events to virtual ones. Of course, on all our minds has been the question of how we would adapt one of the most important events of the year: International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day.
She's Okay: Attending Survivor Day 2018
On Saturday, November 17th, International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day, I participated in the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s local Survivor Day event in Pittsburgh. It was my fourth time attending this event, but my first time as a volunteer.
Survivor Day on The Hill
On November 15 2017, the AFSP Public Policy Office held a Congressional staff briefing co-sponsored by the House Task Force on Suicide Prevention in observance of International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day.
The Evolution of College Mental Health
The transition to college led me to seek help. It had recently become clear to me that I had anxiety, and this was only emphasized by my moving away from home, friends, and familiarity. I recognized that mental health is a constant in everyone’s life: something I must take the time to acknowledge and attend to.
Grieving a Suicide Loss: Eight Things I Know For Sure
If you are reading this, you may be someone who had to steady yourself for the sudden and unexpected changes to your world that occurred as a result of the suicide of a loved one. You may not know where to start or whether you are experiencing all of the emotions connected to suicide grief.
I Don’t Like Keeping Secrets
When evidence began to suggest what we knew in our gut – that Max acted intentionally to end his life – Meg (my wife/Max’s mother) and I had to decide how to handle that information. We decided to be forthright and honest about how he died.
Mental Health and the Military: Asking for Help When You Need It
I am a survivor of suicide loss, having lost a first cousin, a second cousin, and an Air Force son to suicide. I am also a survivor of suicide ideation.
Write a Letter
We all have so much more power than we know; all we need to do to access it is to pick up a pen.
Threads of Hope
I felt my own emotions and grief validated for the first time since that cold July day when my life had seemingly unraveled.
You Are Worth It
International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day 2019 is Saturday, November 23.
The Mental Hug I Needed
Winter can be a difficult time for bereaved families, particularly those who’ve lost someone to suicide.
From a Child Who Lost a Parent to Suicide
In a way, losing someone when you’re a kid really isn’t that much different than being an adolescent or adult, I imagine: the whole world as you knew it has ended. It’s like everything you knew, planned, imagined, and depended upon has unalterably changed forever.
Understanding ‘The Why’
People who knew my dad tried hard to make sense of his death with statements and questions such as these. The truth is that we all ask, “Why?” after losing someone to suicide. In fact, it’s in our very nature as human beings to understand the world around us by asking who, what, where, when, and why.
10 Reasons to Attend a Survivor Day Event
November 17 is International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day—a day when people who’ve lost a loved one to suicide come together at over 360 gatherings around the world.
Empathy and Pain and Hope: Finding Connection Through the Out of the Darkness Walks
My family and I formed Team Nicole Lundy in September of 2010 to participate in the Indianapolis Out of the Darkness Walk, and it was the best thing we could have done. The walk started by simply giving us a way to honor Nicole, but it turned into so much more.
Bake My Day: Making Something Sweet for Suicide Prevention
Once I reached that place of personal emotional stability, I started thinking about ways I could give back to the community that helped me. That’s when the idea for Bake My Day was born.
Marathon in a Month: How Walking for Suicide Prevention Paved a Path Toward Healing
While most people we know celebrated Cinco de Mayo with margaritas and tableside guacamole, on May 5, 2021, my family and I marked the fourth anniversary of my brother Teddy’s suicide. This was the first year that I did not hide in my bed throughout the entirety of Teddy’s anniversary crying, enraged at all we’d lost.
Fathers' Day: Remembering Michael
All questions we’d ask, answers none of us knew
Father’s Day Re-Tooled
Father’s Day, like most holidays that first year, became a reminder of what I no longer had. I had not only lost my dad in a physical sense, but with his suicide I also lost possibility. Never again would I be the girl perusing the store’s selection of “Dad” cards.
Breaking the Silence on Suicide in the Nursing Profession
After 45 years in nursing as an acute and critical care advanced practitioner, educator, researcher, and academic leader, I shifted my focus to a new mission: to raise awareness about mental health and well-being to help prevent suicide. Many have asked why.
Stand Up for Hope: A Comedy Benefit for Suicide Prevention
When you think about mental health, laughter might be the furthest thing that comes to mind. But as a survivor of suicide loss, myself, it was comedy that seemed to play a key role in helping my family heal after we lost my beautiful daughter Raven.
I’ll Still Celebrate Her Birthday: Thought’s from a Bereaved Mom on Mother’s Day
It’s been 35 years since my daughter, Lydia, was born. It’s been 20 years since her death by suicide. The approach of Mother’s Day has me thinking of these “anniversaries.” How am I to spend these days? My daughter’s birthday marks the anniversary of one of the best days of my life, yet is also weighted with sadness.
Losing My Husband to Suicide: The First Two Years
Grief is not linear. Everyone experiences grief differently. Grief moves at its own pace.
Advocating and Spreading Awareness: Fighting Suicide in Honor of My Son
As educators and parents, we want other parents and teachers to know what we wish we had known before it was too late.
Building Resilience in My Children, After Losing My Brother to Suicide
My brother Grant was to arrive in Denver on Wednesday, August 27th to visit me. But two days earlier, he died by suicide.
An Open Letter to the Parent I Lost to Suicide
I’m crying again. I am crying because of the time I lost with you, and I’m crying because of the time I spent with you when I knew you were in pain. I know you don’t want to make me cry. I know you cried enough for both of us.
The Dash
As I weather the 14th anniversary of the loss of my son today (December 4, 2020), I am reminding myself of the importance of remembering all the life and love that took place in "The Dash."
Walking Through My Grief
On June 29, 2016, I lost my oldest child Richard to suicide at age 24. I was overwhelmed by a grief more powerful than I could have ever imagined. I felt like I was caught in a hurricane, disoriented and confused, with nowhere to shelter from the storm.
I Know You Think This Will Never Get Better
"I know you think this will never get better; it will only get worse. But I need to tell you something and I'm speaking from experience."
What To Do If Your Family Won’t Talk About Your Suicide Loss
Everyone grieves differently. It is not unusual for people within the same family to have different coping styles after a suicide death.
How AFSP Saved My Life Twice
I didn’t realize, then, how important that word would become to me: I was a survivor.
Volunteering for Suicide Prevention: From Grief to Hope to Action
I have learned that the road to healing is not easy, but few worthwhile things in our lives are easy.
Samona: Glorious and Gone Too Soon
The stigma around mental health issues needs to STOP. Those who struggle need to be able to ask for help without fear of judgment.
Together We Can
As a suicide loss survivor, I am the voice for those who can’t speak.
Honoring My Mother by Working Toward a World Without Suicide
My mother Helen is the reason why I fight to raise awareness of mental health and suicide prevention. Helen was an amazing mentor and confidant to me. I felt I could tell her anything.
The Second Half of the Sentence
If we work together to change the conversations and attitudes about mental illness in this country, we can stop saying, “I never thought…” about our family and friends.
Healing Through Advocacy
Walking and fundraising was something active that I could do. Slowly, through action, I began to heal.
Pups and Their Peeps Raise Awareness for Suicide Prevention
Coming together to share in the experience of looping the trails of the Preserve in memory of my husband and of all those affected by suicide, was a very powerful moment.
I Am Always Kurt’s Mother
Being a mother who has lost a child, holidays like Mother’s Day can be especially difficult.
Creating an Impact in Diverse Communities
To learn more about our exciting work and read other Volunteer Spotlight Stories, see our 2019 Annual Report.