Presentation of the diptych 'After the death of a loved one by suicide'

Last Friday, November 19, the Professional College of Psychology of Aragon (COPPA) hosted the presentation event of the diptych 'After the death of a loved one by suicide'. A document that offers a series of tools for those who have suffered a loss due to this cause, whose presentation is framed in the International Day of Survivors of Death by Suicide, November 20. Survivors are called family, friends and close people of those who have lost their lives by suicide. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that around 6 people in the environment of someone who has taken their life will be directly affected, and many others indirectly, both in the short and long term. It is very difficult to accept the idea that the true reasons that led to making that decision will probably never be known, something that causes Grief has differential connotations that make it, if possible, more complicated.. During the process, it is common for feelings of guilt, disbelief, rejection, shock, shame, etc. to appear. Postvention as a tool The term postvention was coined as the set of professional or mutual aid actions aimed at people who maintained significant ties with the person who died by suicide, in order to facilitate recovery and minimize any psychological consequences that may occur. The Suicide Prevention Strategy in Aragon, coordinated by Dr. Isabel Irigoyen, psychiatrist at the Lozano Blesa University Clinical Hospital and researcher at the Aragón Health Research Institute, the deployment of postvention actions has been observed, the result of the sensitivity and commitment of different entities. Thanks to that, Today in Aragon there are different intervention and support alternatives offered to survivors. from AFDA (Association of Depressive Disorders of Aragon), ASAPME (Aragonese Association for Mental Health), Asociación Paso a Paso Aragón, COPPA (Professional College of Psychology of Aragon), LIANA (Aragonese Association for the Prevention of Suicide and Self-Harmful Behavior) and the Public Mental Health Care Network, which carry out fundamental work in this regard. As a result of the joint work of all these organizations and associations, the diptych 'After the death of a loved one by suicide', which has the collaboration of the Aragón Health Research Institute and whose dissemination campaign has been sponsored by Janssen. A document that, through simple but direct language, explains the emotional impact that an event of these characteristics can cause in the environment, as well as the fundamental aspects of help, without neglecting differential aspects related to the period of childhood and adolescence.