Suicide Bereavement: A Qualitative Study

It’s as if time has stopped entirely, standing there frozen in time. I can’t move, I can’t speak, I just stand there. I stand there in my own depression, surrounded by darkness. Each time it passes over me, it hits me like a tsunami, with its brute force destroying everything in its path. There have been times where I’ve been driven to commit suicide, just simply pulling out my step-father’s forty-five caliber pistol, loaded with hollow-point rounds. The darkness consumes me, whispers in my ear, “just pull the trigger you worthless shit”. “Nobody would care if you died, so just die”. I tried to tune it out, but instead, it just got louder, as if it went from whispering to yelling. I never could pull the trigger.

Reading journal articles related to bereavement/grief and loss have helped me to understand theories of grief and loss in relation to the practice context. For instance, during supervision sessions, I have been able to discuss and reflect on several grief and loss theories, social work theories, ethical theories which will need to be considered while working with bereaved clients. For instance, dual process model, continuing bonds, stress theories etc. have been studied. Hence, throughout this placement, I have been able to explore the theoretical foundations of bereavement work.

The Two-Track Model of Bereavement is a model that states loss is conceptualized along two axes. Track I pertains to the biopsychosocial functioning in the event of a loss and Track II pertains to the bereaved’s continued emotional attachment and relationship to whoever is deceased. The effect of Track I is seen through the bereaved’s functioning, including their anxiety, their self-esteem and self-worth, and their depressive affect and cognitions. Noting the ability of one to invest in life tasks after experiencing a loss indicates how they are responding to the loss of the deceased. This Track is seen as an expression similar to one of trauma, or crisis. Track II holds that the bereaved has difficulty physically separating from the deceased. This can be seen in emotional, interpersonal, or cognitive ways. It is shown through imagery and memories that the bereaved experiences surrounding the deceased, whether positive or negative, as well as the emotional distance from them. These pictures in the bereaved’s head explain both the cognitive and emotional view of the person who has died (Rubin, 1999).

The life transition of death and dying is inevitably one with which we will all be faced; we will all experience the death of people we hold close throughout our lifetime. This paper will explore the different processes of grief including the bereavement, mourning, and sorrow individuals go through after losing someone to death. Bereavement is a period of adaptation following a life changing loss. This period encompasses mourning, which includes behaviors and rituals following a death, and the wide range of emotions that go with it. Sorrow is the state of ongoing sadness not overcome in the grieving process; though not pathological, persistent

Grief counseling is a division of social work that involves the interpersonal aspect of the social worker’s role as expert in coping with death. In this paper I will define grief counseling and some ways to cope with loss. Next I will discuss the history and seven stages of grief. There are two main forms of grievers which are intuitive and instrumental. In addition there are four major types of grief which are acute, anticipatory, sudden and complicated. The helping process is explained as well as some disorders related to grief. A current trend for grievers is to seek involvement in programs such as the Canadian Cancer Society, Missing Children of Canada and Victim Services. These organizations provide counseling services and crisis

“My ex-girlfriend was taken away by the cop and taken to the local jail. My ex-girlfriend’s Dad showed up and I rode back with him to their house. Finally my parents came and picked me up. I went home and maybe got two hours of sleep, if you even call that sleep. The next morning, I went back to my ex-girlfriend’s house and she was later released from jail that day. For the longest time, we would just sit there in silence, because, what do you say? It was time to comfort one another. I not only felt bad about the whole situation, but I knew no one was going to believe me, us. Believe that a girl purposively jumped into the moving vehicle. I later learned that the girl who died had been suicidal. Earlier that day, before the accident,

Since this was the first day after a three day weekend, which cancelled one of our class sessions, we started the class with a review of the last week and how the course would work out. Also, to make the roll call a little more fun, we had to say what kind of food we would bring to a deserted island. For me, I said I would bring my mother’s own version of a “Frikandelle” which is a shredded turkey patty and no one apparently knew what I was talking about. Everyone mostly chose common recipes like pizza and burgers but, after having those things daily for the last three months (excluding winter break), I know I would be better off with something closer to home. After that, we did our daily exercise of rolling our bodies to our hips and lifting our arms to stretch our body.

The paper written gives an objective critique and evaluation of the article, “The Assimilation of Problematic Experiences sequence: An Approach to Evidence- Based Practice in Bereavement Counseling. Published in the May 2011 Journal of Social Work in End-of-Life & Palliative Care. In the article, the author John Wilson discussed the complexity of grief on an individual basis as it pertains to the clients internal and external perceptions of loss. Furthermore, documenting the difficulties faced by the bereavement counseling profession to aid clients in understanding how their past experiences, beliefs, and the words of others shapes their perception of traumaTtic life events, like death.

How have your perceptions about and prior experience with depression, grief and suicide been challenged by the information presented?

Dylan is a 24-year-old married, white male who was brought to CRU from Abrazo West Campus. He lives with wife, and unborn baby. He is employed as mortgage broker. Patient has a hx of ETOH abuse. He stated, "when I drink, it gets out of hand." Prior to ED admission, patient aborted suicidal attempt with a gun by reaching out to family. He reported that he was suicidal because he had been drinking. He denies SI during this assessment. Patient will benefit from meeting the provider to discuss medication

Eleven participants (or 24%) were classified as having high levels of uncertainty following the death of the sibling. The ones placed in this category demonstrated a lot of emotion and were generally unclear about certain aspects of the death, along with heavy feeling of guilt or blame. The second category, low levels of uncertainty included eighteen (40%) of the participants. These siblings expressed content or understanding when asked about the death and spoke of the death mostly as being “in the past”. Many mentioned that suicide had run in the family, or that the sibling had expressed suicidal thoughts or previous attempts and that it was seen coming. The remaining sixteen interviewees were placed in the third group where they were classified with having fluctuating. They were the ones that expressed being content and said that they had found peace with the death but would also get emotional during certain questions or showed feelings of guilt or blame on occasion. In regards to the second research question Powell and Matthys concluded that all of the participants made some effort to reduce the uncertainty that surrounded the suicide. For some that meant that they sought answers through suicide notes, friends, and support groups, for some they found that looking for answers only created more questions and choose to manage their uncertainty by seeking help

Most survivors of suicide feel shock as an immediate reaction, along with physical and emotional numbness. This reaction is the temporary way for the person to screen out the pain of what just happened, to allow time to comprehend the facts, and take things in smaller and more manageable steps. Loved ones and family members often express anger, or suppress it, at the waste of human life. Anger is another grief response, and may be directed toward the person who died by suicide, to themselves, another family member, or a therapist. Following death by suicide, surviving family members rack their brains trying to think of what clues they missed, how they may have been able to prevent the suicide. This self-blame includes things they said or didn’t

The loss of a loved one is a very crucial time where an individual can experience depression, somatic symptoms, grief, and sadness. What will be discussed throughout this paper is what the bereavement role is and its duration, as well as the definition of disenfranchised grief and who experiences this type of grief. I will also touch upon the four tasks of mourning and how each bereaved individual must accomplish all four tasks before mourning can be finalized. Lastly, with each of these topics, nursing implications will be outlined on how to care for bereaved individuals and their families.

Someone, somewhere, commits suicide every 18 minutes. You might never be able to tell who it will be, it could be the person sitting right next . Statistics reveal that approximately three million youths, between 12-18, have either thought about or attempted suicide in the past year. More than 1/3, actually succeeded.

Suicide is an ugly word, with an ugly meaning and ugly consequences. But there I was, barely 18 and already at my second attempt. I remember using the same method as the first time; sitting seemingly blissfully on the balcony railing in my study room on the third floor. I remember dangling my legs, with the tips of my toes brushing against the leaves of our mango tree.