Healthy Healing
- Be patient – Know that everyone grieves at his or her own pace. Give yourself time.
- Take care of yourself – Eat nutritiously. Get sleep and exercise. Even a ten-minute walk can make a difference.
- Seek professional help – Many people find that counseling helps them deal with their grief in healthy ways.
- Learn about suicide loss – Knowing what to expect often helps you get through the more difficult times
- Connect with other suicide loss survivors – Find comfort by reaching out to people who understand what you’re going through.
Understanding Suicide Loss
Everyone experiences suicide loss in their own way. In addition to common grief responses such as sadness and shock, you may also feel anger, shame, disorientation, relief, and guilt.
Allow yourself to feel what you feel and understand that healing takes time. If you are struggling to cope or experiencing suicidal feelings, reach out to a mental health professional.
Understanding the Why
Though research shows that most people who take their own life have a mental health condition at the time of their death, the reasons behind any suicide are complicated and answers may be hard to find. Loss survivors may think about how a loved one died (or even why they died), yet learning to reflect upon the time you had together may help you move forward in your healing journey.
Connect
After a suicide, know that you are not alone. You don’t have to go through this difficult experience on your own. Support is available to help loss survivors cope, connect and heal. Sharing your experiences with fellow loss survivors can help you heal.
The Blair County Support Group format is such that allows for free flow of emotions, thoughts, or ideas. Those that attend are known to cry together and laugh together. In attendance are spouses, parents, adult children, significant others, close friends…anyone who has lost someone they love to suicide. It is a place to get a shoulder to cry on and an ear to listen.
These meetings are held the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month from 6:00-7:30 PM.
UPMC WBHA
500 East Chestnut Avenue
Altoona, PA
For more information – please contact Bill Yon at 814-940-7476