When our sibling has died by suicide

UK Helpline: 0 345 123 23 0 4 | tcf.org.uk to cope with grief. We may want to share our experience of having a sibling who has died by suicide, but not all parents will want this to be known outside of our immediate family circle. We might find ourselves torn between their wishes and the way we need to process our grief. An open conversation about this can be helpful if it is possible, but it might not solve the underlying issues. If our family is blended, step-parents and step-siblings may have been less close to our sibling and so less able to understand what we are going through. Friendships Friendships can be difficult to maintain while we are grieving so acutely. In the beginning friends are often supportive and caring. Still, they can be unsure of how to respond if they have not experienced something similar. They may have expectations for us to ‘get over it’ quite soon. Not all friendships survive the type of profound grief we are coping with. On the other hand, there may be other friends who were previously in the background that become more supportive in this time. Other people The subject of siblings might come up in general conversation. It is entirely up to us whether we mention what has happened or not. Many people are uncomfortable around the subject of bereavement in general and suicide in particular, and do not know how to react. On the other hand, people can also be quite insensitive and even intrusive. Nobody should feel pressured to tell the details of how a loved one died. How much detail we share about our sibling’s death is our own choice.