A NUMBER of trained
individuals are now available to offer support and
advice to families in Donegal bereaved by suicide.
The local branch of Living Links was set up in
January and provides confidential support in the
county for anyone bereaved by suicide. It is the
tenth such group in the country. In the case of this
particular group, ten trained volunteers go into the
community to link up with families at the latter’s
request.
They provide advice on funerals and inquests as well
as how to cope with personal grief and helping
affected children through the ordeal. They also
advise on issues such as: what to say to the
children; how to deal with the neighbours as well as
being there as a friend.
For further information feel free to contact the
Living Links support co-ordinator at 087 928 6007.
If the line is busy, just leave a message and your
number on the answering machine and your call will
be returned as soon as possible.
The first Living Links group was set up in
Cloughjordan, County Tipperary in May 2002, when a
small group of local people got together in direct
response to a suicide in the community. There was a
huge sense of inadequacy on the ground as to how to
provide appropriate community support and a
consequent sense of failure as a community.
In an effort to provide support to the suicide
bereaved, personal contact was made with relatives
and friends of the deceased, enquiring from them
what their immediate requirements were following the
suicide. Contacts were made with those who had been
bereaved by suicide varying, in terms of time, from
weeks to months to years following the death.
It was found that within the first twelve to
fourteen months following the suicide, most people
were basically in a state of confusion and
experiencing multiple emotions such as anger, guilt,
denial and even suicidal thoughts. |
