Every year there are an estimated one million suicides worldwide and those numbers have been rising in many countries. In the United States alone, that means 37,000 deaths due to suicide making it the tenth leading cause of death overall. What impact does that have on people dealing with the suicide of a loved one? And do they always get they need afterward?
In recent years, self-help resources are becoming more common, whether online or through the various self-help books and booklets available at bookstores or in libraries. How effective these resources can be is still open to question since actual research investigating their benefit is still limited.
As a response to the 5500 suicide deaths that happen each year in the United Kingdom, the National Suicide Prevention Strategy for England was launched in 2002. As part of the comprehensive anti-suicide initiative, a self-help booklet titled Help Is At Hand was released in 2006. Available in hardcopy and online, the booklet was developed by an advisory group made up of bereavement organizations, mental health professionals, law enforcement agencies and academics specializing in suicide research.
To read more, check out my new Psychology Today blog post.
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