How to cope when a friend commits suicide?

Sugar_Coated_Owl

As the title says how do you cope when a friend commits suicide?

In January 2011 a close friend committed suicide while she was in a psychiatric hospital and it sent me a little crazy and I had to go to a secure hospital for a year. Last week another friend committed suicide in the hospital that I was in and I'm left feeling really sad and low. I'm already taking two anti-depressants and an anti-psychotic to help with my depression/mood but I don't think medication is going to help me cope in this situation.

Can anyone offer any advice?

floss2

Have you spoken to your CPN? Or made an appointment to see them?

You can always call the Samaritans - look here

:grouphug:

Sugar_Coated_Owl

No I'm seeing my social worker tomorrow so will talk to her about it then

I might email the Samaritans - thank you.

Hovel_lady

Sorry to hear about you losing your friend.

Have you heard of "Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide"?
This is their website.

http://www.uk-sobs.org.uk/

whitewing

sco, sorry to read about your friends - the first one I knew about but not the second one. Sorry too that you have to suffer so much. I hope you can be positive and remember them for the lovely people they were. I also hope that by your posting on MSE (and other people too) that mental health issues become less stigmatised. It may not help these friends but I am sure it will help people in the future.

Did you decide on dbt in the end (as you are still posting here), or is that a decision still to be made?

I am sorry that I can't help you more in my posts.

Sugar_Coated_Owl

Thank you Hovel Lady I will check out that website.

whitewing, I am trying to convince my team at the moment to let me do DBT instead of going inpatient again.

Millie2008_2

Therapy sounds like the way forward. It's horrible to have it happen to you once, twice is just awful and you simply can't be expected to go through this alone, nobody could.

In the meantime, yes, posting on here for support and checking out the links above. The Samaritans are very good, my FIL does a lot of work for them and they come highly recommended

In the meantime, sending you massive hugs xx

londonsurrey

Did they offer you any individual psychiatric and psychotherapy counselling or just group counselling?

rainbowfairydust

Hovel_lady wrote: »

Sorry to hear about you losing your friend.

Have you heard of "Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide"?
This is their website.

http://www.uk-sobs.org.uk/

Thanks for this link - i shall check this out later .

rainbowfairydust

OP i am truly sorry about your loss and being in a similar situation myself i can completely relate to how you are feeling. My brother commited suicide a month ago and it has left our myself and the rest of our family devastated.

Like the others said i would arrange some sort of counselling to help through this time .This is the route i have also chosen to take.

Wishing you the best of luck and massive hugs ((())).

londonsurrey

Rainbow, I'm very sorry to hear about your brother. My brother did the same a few years ago.

I attended a SOBS meeting, and it was very good. There was a family there - mother, brother, sister and uncle of a young man who had taken his life, and they found it helpful too.

The only downside was that this group had a creepy artist who tried to talk me into letting him film me in my living room talking about the death. It was horrid, as it was my first meeting, and I was feeling very vulnerable. But I'm sure not all the groups have a hovering artist!