Day 6 - National Suicide Awareness Week

*Note: I am going to try to do posts each day this week (no promises) with information that I hope will be helpful concerning the problem of suicide. If you have not already done so, please read my initial introductory post on the topic for my background and a way that you can participate in helping to address this awful problem that devastates so many lives.

Also, if anyone reading this has his or her own blog, I would be grateful if you might be willing to do a post sometime this week mentioning the week (feel free to link to my blog if you want). Most people don't think of suicide beyond the occasional publicized celebrity death, but when it happens to someone you love, you too would wish more was being done to help those who fall into such deep despair. A post this week can be a small step in helping with that cause.

Today's post will be primarily a post of gratitude for a group of people who have been so helpful to me during the process of the past seven months. There is an organization in Chicago known by the acronym LOSS, which stands for "Loving Outreach to Survivors of Suicide." This is a group run by the Catholic Charities office of Chicago, designed to offer full support to those who have lost someone to suicide. They do this in 3 primary ways. First, they publish a monthly newsletter which is sent out free-of-charge to a very large mailing list far beyond the borders of Chicago. Second, they hold monthly support group meetings where survivors can meet other people who have gone through the same experience. Those meetings are run by others who have lost someone to suicide, and they always include a mental health professional to answer questions and give advice. And third, they offer one-on-one counseling with trained therapists, also free-of-charge. I have taken advantage of each of these resources, and they have been key in my getting to the point where I am able to view my experience as a sad but survivable journey.

Support groups and individual therapy are two of the most important resources after the initial days following the suicide. I would strongly recommend that, if a person can in any way handle it, these resources should be investigated within a month or so after the event. The AFSP has a wonderful listing of support groups around the country. That is where I found the LOSS group in my area, and I know others who have found similarly-wonderful groups in their part of the world.