Touched by Suicide--Surviving Grief and Loss.

I will be blogging this week in connection to suicide and grief as a memorial to my nephew who took his life this last week. He was loved deeply and will be missed by all his family. I hope that these posts will raise awareness for others who have family members who are depressed and taking anti-depressants. It is my hope that you can find alternatives before you lose someone you love.

We never research or become aware of statistics often until it hits our lives. Suicide is devastating for all the family members, leaving in it's wake overwhelming guilt, unbearable grief, and questions that will never be answered.

I never realised that there is one person entering the ER every two minutes connected to depression and anti-depressants and a suicide attempt. I had never taken the time to research the fact that in 2004 the FDA posted a warning that the 12 SSI anti-depressants on the market have been found to deepen depression and cause suicidal thoughts.

I could have never imagined that 63,000 people enter the ER every year as a result of a suicide attempt related to anti-depressant side effects. These are all statistics that I found yesterday after trying to find answers to why a person who one month earlier had shared that someone who would take their own life would have to be out of their mind and completely selfish.

How is it that when the FDA has issued this strong warning and with the above alarming statistics found on DAWN. DAWN is a public health surveillance system that monitors drug-related ED visits in the United States. Data are collected from a nationally representative sample of short-stay, general, non-Federal hospitals that operate 24-hour EDs (emergency departments).

Share your story if you have lost someone you love. My heart reaches out to you in your loss and grief.