Tag: understanding-suicide

Learning about suicide’s complex causes including mental illness, unbearable psychological pain, cognitive distortions, impaired judgment, and temporary inability to see other options helps survivors understand that their loved one’s death resulted from multiple intersecting factors rather than single cause or simple choice. Understanding suicide doesn’t provide complete answers or eliminate guilt, but it offers context that can reduce personalizing the death and recognize that suicide represents the catastrophic failure of a person’s coping capacity rather than rejection of survivors or failure of love. This understanding also supports prevention efforts and reduces stigma around mental health struggles.