Family background stories pivotal in suicide grief meaning following the suicidal death of a family member

Narratives of eighteen family members who shared their experience of losing an immediate relative through suicide were examined. Family relationships were shown to be pivotal in grief meaning construction following the suicide deaths. Family functioning coloured the broad scope of this study identified family history, family patterning, an understanding of the triggering events leading to the suicide and the consequences for the participants and other family members. Changed relationships within the bereaved family were experienced with some families acknowledging permanent breakdown and loss of connection with part of the family. Other families were able to draw together in mutual support and find healing. Half the narratives in this study spoke of a family history of mood disorders and/or mental illness and also a family patterning that may have contributed to vulnerability to negative feelings. This illustrates the complex antecedence to suicide ideation and attempts and highlights the importance of support for those bereaved by suicide for they share the same family inheritance and patterning.