Postvention is ultimately about hope, about reestablishing hope in a person and a community or workplace that has been devastated by a suicide
Hope In this confusing and often lonely journey we call suicide grief, there is one aspect that sustains us and guides us, although much of the time it feels hidden from us. Hope. It is hope that keeps us forging forward. Hope helps us to know deep down somewhere inside of us we will one day feel good again. What we each define as hope will vary among us, but the most important part is that we all know it is there. Hope is what life ultimately is about.
For some of us, there is hope that we will see our loved one again in another life, for others it’s feeling the presence of our loved one in some way in our life. And yet for others it’s the sense that we will find purpose in our lives again.
To have hope in our lives, we also have smaller symbols of hope that sustain us in times of sadness and difficulty. This symbol can be as basic as the sun rising in the morning. There is hope in seeing the sun come up, in seeing a new day with a clean slate. While some people might find dread in a new day, the ultimate comfort is knowing that we have a chance to have another opportunity at a new day.
Other symbols of hope in our lives can be children, pets, material objects– whatever is important to us in our lives that we grasp when we are in pain and need something to give us relief. For some people, reaching out to others through suicide prevention advocacy, helping people grieve a suicide loss, or in another helpful manner is a way to find hope again.
From What are the emotions of suicide grief?
By Michelle Linn-Gust, Ph.D.
