Grief Digest Articles

Overcoming the Stigma of Suicide Accepting the Pain of GrievingIn June of 1989, my eldest brother, Dale, took his own life. He lived on the coast of North Carolina at the time. When my family in Wisconsin was notified of his death, my brother David immediately said, "Let's tell people Dale died in an accident." Such was the inherent shame of suicide.Although we did acknowledge my brother's death as the reality that it was--a suicide--the fact remains that because of the stigma and embarrassme …

As of late, there is a chance you may be a castaway on a remote, barren island.Inside the world of emotions, grief can make us shipwrecked and stranded, alone, in some unfamiliar place far from home.Inside the world of images and memories, grief can rather shackle us to the past and ever tempt us to pitch a tent in the chambers of those bygone times.In these ways, grief can become an isle that separates us from the mainland – the mainland of present life, remaining life, and relationships in-wai …