International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day

I’m an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter. I’ve spent more than half my life in the Deaf Community, and am forever grateful they’ve allowed me to be part of their world. On March 31st, 2017, I gained a new identity: a Sibling Suicide Loss Survivor.

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.

Winter can be a difficult time for bereaved families, particularly those who’ve lost someone to suicide.

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.

I felt my own emotions and grief validated for the first time since that cold July day when my life had seemingly unraveled.

International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day 2019 is Saturday, November 23.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I went home that night, and for the first time in a very long time, felt I could breathe again.

We all have so much more power than we know; all we need to do to access it is to pick up a pen.

Attending a Survivor Day event each year is a way to honor Dean. It is also a time to reflect on how far I have come in my grief journey, progressing from a recent loss survivor looking for answers, to an organizer who is providing comfort and care.

Each year a documentary about suicide loss is included as part of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention's International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day. Previous documentaries can be found here.

Healing Conversations gives survivors of suicide loss the opportunity to speak with volunteers, who are themselves loss survivors.

View the booklet Children, Teens and Suicide Loss

A listing of books from which we hope loss survivors will find helpful information and guidance as they navigate their healing journey.

How to Talk to a Suicide Loss Survivor