Suicide Loss Within the Profession
Losing a colleague or a family member to suicide is a grief unlike any other, layered with shock, guilt, questions that will never be answered, and often a painful silence in the profession itself. When it happens within public safety, the military, or the health professions, the loss can feel unbearably personal and professional at once: you may wonder what you could have seen, what the job did, what everyone missed. You are not alone, and there are people who have walked this exact road.
National Resource
Blue H.E.L.P.: A national nonprofit reducing stigma around suicide in law enforcement and supporting the families and coworkers of officers lost to suicide.
Recommended Reading
No Time to Say Goodbye: Surviving the Suicide of a Loved One by Carla Fine: A moving, honest account of surviving a loved one's suicide: the shock, the guilt, the questions, and the slow, uneven path toward living again.
Grief & Support
Alliance of Hope for Suicide Loss Survivors: An online community offering forums, healing resources, and connection for anyone grieving a death by suicide: a place where no question is too hard to ask.
Currently in crisis?
If your grief has become a crisis, you feel unsafe, or you are thinking about harming yourself, immediate support is available.
The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week anywhere in the United States, free, confidential, and ready for anyone experiencing emotional distress or grief.
If this is a life-threatening emergency, call 911 immediately.