Eighty per cent of people thinking about suicide send out a warning, and about 80 per cent of lethal suicides follow an earlier attempt. There are about 20-40 suicide attempts for every completed suicide. A suicide attempt is the strongest predictor of future death by suicide.
The Reasons to go on Living Project focuses on stories by people who made a suicide attempt and chose life. However, people who have lost someone to suicide also have stories. These stories are also an important part of understanding how suicide and suicide attempts affect the lives of many people. The Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention (CASP) includes many members who are survivors of suicide loss. Some of them have written stories about how suicide has affected them. These stories offer another perspective and complement the stories collected through The Reasons to go on Living Project.
These stories are not part of the research part of The Reasons to go on Living Project and were not submitted through this website. More stories will be added when available. Please note that in these stories, "Suicide Survivor” refers to someone who has been impacted by the suicide death of a significant person in their lives and should not be confused with a person who makes a suicide attempt and survives that attempt.
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Losing A Client To Suicide - Ruminations Of A SAFER Counseler
I want to share some of my experiences as a clinician who has, as far as I know, had four clients die by suicide. My wish is to underscore that clinicians are survivors too. These losses can touch us deeply. We also struggle with shock, horror and sadness, feelings of guilt, self-recrimination, inadequacy, shame and despair when someone we have worked with kills themselves.
Men’s Experience of Grief
A successful Toronto lawyer and past president of the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention, Adrian Hill authored the LPAC 1997 Lawyer Suicide Study which found that lawyers in Canada had a suicide rate 6 times the national suicide rate. In 1999, Adrian lost his mother to suicide.
From Private Pain to Public Action: It’s Not a Choice
A business analyst by profession, Bonny found herself thrust onto a new path when her treasured 21 year old son died by suicide. Thanks to support from friends, family and a huge number of mentors...
We plan to post additional stories regularly - please check back soon.