Just Want to Know Why? Making sense of suicide

“Why?”

Often one of the first questions for those bereaved by suicide. A question which has “an unanswerable answer.”

Based on this feedback and recognising a need, Barry designed this safe and supportive forum for those bereaved to ask all the questions about suicide that have perplexed them and to learn more about:

• the phenomenon of suicide
• why people suicide
• what leads people to make the decision to kill themselves
• the thinking process at the “suicidal moment”
• The impact of suicide on other whānau members and suicide contagion

The forum is designed for people who have been bereaved by suicide – whānau members, close friends or others who have been impacted by a death by suicide.  However, people who are currently supporting or a worried about a person who is suicidal can benefit from attending the forum.

The focus of the forum is not about dealing with the grief of having someone die by suicide.  There are support groups to assist people in their grief. Rather it is about obtaining accurate and proven knowledge about suicide and what leads to people killing themselves.

Barry has delivered this learning session around Australia and New Zealand. He draws upon the latest research and thinking on suicide as well as his lived experience of living with depression and suicidal thinking and his pathway to recovery.

Topics covered:

• An overview of suicide and why people kill themselves
• Whose fault is it? An unhelpful question
• Is suicide a selfish act? – Understanding the suicidal person’s thinking process
• The suicidal moment
• Copycat suicides and inter-generational suicide – why it happens

Bring something to share for lunch