Each year, an average of 200 suicides are completed in the St. Louis area. For each of these completed suicides, an estimated six people – family members and friends – are intimately affected, making them “survivors” of suicide. Thus, each year, at least 1,200 St. Louisans become “survivors of suicide.”

The unique experiences of these “survivors” and a newly developed community-based resource for survivors will be explored at the Mental Health Association’s 13^th Annual Film-Showing and Discussion on Wednesday, October 25. This year’s movie, Ordinary People, is considered a classic film and stars Mary Tyler Moore, Donald Sutherland, Judd Hirsch and Timothy Hutton. A dramatic film, it has many themes and subplots from family life, growing up through adolescence, marriage, and most importantly – suicide.  Ordinary People speaks to experiences of “ordinary people” coping with the aftermath of suicide.

Research shows that survivors are at a greater risk of suicide than is the general population. Survivors frequently struggle for years, if not the rest of their lives, with the guilt associated with a loved one’s suicide. Fortunately, early postvention can speed recovery and minimize this agony for survivors.

When surveyed, survivors consistently identified cultural and professional insensitivity, lack of specialized services, societal stigma, prejudice and geographical isolation as roadblocks to recovery and healing. Survivors agreed that a “peer-postvention” service would have been helpful, offering immediate comfort, preparedness information, and hope that they, too, could survive their loss. According to Kay Redfield-Jamison, “the suffering of the suicidal is private and inexpressible, leaving family members, friends and colleagues to deal with an almost unfathomable kind of loss, as well as guilt. Suicide carries in its aftermath a level of confusion and devastation that is, for the most part, beyond description.”

Postvention suicide services in St. Louis were very limited until the St. Louis Area Survivors of Suicide Response Team (SSRT) assembled and developed their own “model” to effectively communicate with survivors. SSRT is a unique community-based collaboration designed to extend support, hope and resources to those who have recently lost a loved one to suicide. This team strives to engage with survivors (family and friends) as close to the time of death as possible.  Some of SSRT’s objectives include:

·        Share the message, through empathy and shared experience, that surviving the tragedy of suicide is possible.

·        Promote resiliency through caring, availability and understanding.

·        Explain the grief process, stages of mourning, and what to expect emotionally.

·        Encourage help-seeking through personal support-networking, mental health services/providers, and community resources. 

The St. Louis Area SSRT was founded by survivors of suicide, along with mental health professionals in the metropolitan St. Louis area.  SSRT’s mission is to reduce the risk of suicide in survivors of suicide, aid them in recovery from their grief, instill hope through listening, provide encouragement, share experiences, and link them with available resources. With the formation of SSRT, St. Louis now has viable postvention services for suicide survivors.

At the conclusion of the movie, founding members of SSRT will provide a panel discussion and address the audience’s questions on suicide, insights on surviving a loved one’s suicide, and community resources. For more information and to register for this free event, call the Mental Health Association at 314-773-1399 or visit www.mhagstl.org/events.htm
 

Depression Education Committee
Mental Health Association of Greater St. Louis

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