Let's Talk About Suicide

In this extra of the Let’s Talk About Suicide podcast, you will hear about Peter’s experience with losing his partner, Des, to suicide. This is the full-length interview recorded with him.

Listening to this podcast may raise issues for you and if this is the case we would encourage you to contact one of the following services in Australia:

* Qlife: 1800 184 527

* Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467

* Lifeline: 13 11 14

In this extra of the Let’s Talk About Suicide podcast, you will hear about Lara’s experience with losing her good friend, Ingrid, to suicide. This is the full-length interview recorded with her.

Listening to this podcast may raise issues for you and if this is the case we would encourage you to contact one of the following services in Australia:

* Qlife: 1800 184 527

* Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467

* Lifeline: 13 11 14

In this extra of the Let’s Talk About Suicide podcast, you will hear about Beau’s experience with losing his partner, Geoff, to suicide. This is the full-length interview recorded with him.

Listening to this podcast may raise issues for you and if this is the case we would encourage you to contact one of the following services in Australia:

* Qlife: 1800 184 527

* Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467

* Lifeline: 13 11 14

In this extra of the Let’s Talk About Suicide podcast, you will hear about Alice’s experience with losing her good friend, Ingrid, to suicide. This is the full-length interview recorded with her.

Listening to this podcast may raise issues for you and if this is the case we would encourage you to contact one of the following services in Australia:

* Qlife: 1800 184 527

* Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467

* Lifeline: 13 11 14

In this final episode we talk about how you can remember and honour your loved one. For some people this can be difficult because maybe your relationship with the person who died wasn’t the best at the time of death or maybe because of the last conversation you had with the person. It can also be difficult because of the stigma around suicide. But we need to remember that someone is more than just how they died.

You will also hear from the people we interviewed who lost a loved one to suicide, Alice, Peter, Beau, and Lara, about how they connect with and honour their loved ones.

Listening to this podcast may raise issues for you and if this is the case we would encourage you to contact one of the following services in Australia:

* Qlife: 1800 184 527

* Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467

* Lifeline: 13 11 14

In this episode we talk about the funeral, including some of the challenges you might face both in the planning and on the actual day.

The funeral is normally held within a few weeks of the death and it is still a very confusing and tumultuous time for everybody involved. There can be a lot of different expectations and some people might find that it is hard to truly celebrate the life of the person because of the issues surrounding the suicide. Having a funeral that is authentic to the memory of the person who died and even acknowledging the fact that the person died by suicide, although tough, might be more helpful for the community in grief. An alternative memorial service might also be what your community needs.

Listening to this podcast may raise issues for you and if this is the case we would encourage you to contact one of the following services in Australia:

* Qlife: 1800 184 527

* Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467

* Lifeline: 13 11 14

In this episode we talk more about how you can support a person who has lost someone to suicide. If you haven’t yet listened to the previous episode (Episode 11), you should go back and listen to that first, otherwise you’ll miss part one of this conversation.

If you are supporting a person who has lost someone to suicide, it can be helpful to understand more about suicide and how it is different from other causes of death and what that means for the person grieving.

Listening to this podcast may raise issues for you and if this is the case we would encourage you to contact one of the following services in Australia:

* Qlife: 1800 184 527

* Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467

* Lifeline: 13 11 14

In this episode and the next one we talk about how you can support a person who has lost someone to suicide. Many people have been touched by suicide so it is important to know how to give that support. If you have lost someone, you might identify with some of the helpful and not-so-helpful ways that people try to help. It is likely that you are also supporting other people during this time.

Just having the right words can be hard for some people, but there are some really simple things to say and do in this situation. It is important to be mindful of things that are not helpful to say, particularly around the “how” and the method. It is also important to be careful not to make judgements about the person who died. What you can do to really help someone who is grieving is to reach out and show that person you support them in an appropriate way.

Joe introduces the concept of the circle of support – the amount of support that you are able to give somebody depending on who you are supporting, your relationship to that person, and also your relationship with the person who died.

This discussion continues in the next episode.

Listening to this podcast may raise issues for you and if this is the case we would encourage you to contact one of the following services in Australia:

* Qlife: 1800 184 527

* Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467

* Lifeline: 13 11 14

This episode is all about the one year anniversary. When you are grieving any death, the one year anniversary can be a very upsetting time. But with a death by suicide there are other things that can also make it traumatic in different ways. Planning for the anniversary can help a lot and sometimes the anniversary itself is not as intense as the lead up. Talking to your community about what you are planning can be a good way to make sure you have support on and around the day, and if you are seeing a counsellor organising a few extra sessions is a good self-care strategy.

Listening to this podcast may raise issues for you and if this is the case we would encourage you to contact one of the following services in Australia:

* Qlife: 1800 184 527

* Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467

* Lifeline: 13 11 14

There are a lot of occasions that we celebrate in our lives, things like birthdays, wedding anniversaries, Christmas and other religious holidays. But when you’ve lost somebody to suicide, these events can be very hard. What was once was a celebration or happy occasion can be very sad and painful. How you remember your loved one who has died at these times may be different depending on where you are with your grief. But thinking about how you might include your loved one in these occasions and having realistic expectations for you and others around you might help a little.

Listening to this podcast may raise issues for you and if this is the case we would encourage you to contact one of the following services in Australia:

* Qlife: 1800 184 527

* Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467

* Lifeline: 13 11 14