I wrote this piece about 13 months after Tom died. It has been over four and a half years now since he passed. Although I no longer look for someone or something beyond his depression and anxiety on which to blame Tom’s death, I still cringe when I hear people talk about suicide in stigmatizing ways. This piece reflects on how I finally framed and processed his death by suicide.
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I have struggled with a question for many months now. Was Tom mentally ill, or did he just decide he could no longer go on? Is mental illness a label we put on someone who dies by suicide to lessen the blow of the loss and make it more palatable for those left behind?
If Tom chose suicide to escape this world, then I as a parent must have failed him somehow, and his death is a conviction of my failures making it doubly hard to accept. But if I can label it as him suffering from undiagnosed depression and known, but untreated, anxiety, that softens the blow a little. I can say he was not willing or able to ask for help overcoming his internal struggles, and that, although still hard to swallow, shifts the blame, at least partly, from me to him. Somehow, that makes it a little easier.
Some people say those who die by suicide choose death over life, take the easy way out, or are selfish. Those words cut into my heart, because I do not consider Tom to be a quitter, not up to a challenge, or someone to put his needs before others’. Although he was cynical and loved sarcasm, he also was generous with his words and deeds. He chose his friends carefully, but once screened into the tribe, they could count on him. He gave thoughtful gifts. He helped family members, teachers, and friends in selfless ways. I have had heard many stories of his simple, thoughtful acts – helping put up chairs at the end of a class period, inviting bullied strangers to join him for lunch, buying a friend a pop and sitting under a tree talking. Tom was a good kid. Imperfect, but aren’t we all?
I cannot imagine Tom would choose to execute his final act willingly, knowing the lasting devastation it would cause. The Tom I knew and loved would not have left his lifeless body to be found by those who loved him the most. He would not have abandoned family and friends forever anguished by his absence. He would not have wanted us to suffer in his death as he did in life. He would have thought through the ramifications of his actions. My Tom would not have chosen death; therefore, I must believe mental illness changed him and allowed death to chose him.
(C) 2016 Kimberly Starr
Maria Arguello says
Thank you for help me to process the loss by suicide of my only child, he was only 25 and after 7 years , my pain and feeling about that I suppose to saved him, make my pain deeply.
I order you book in Amazon with hope to process all my feeling with the help of your writing. Sincerely.
Karen ivey says
Have you been in touch with TCF ? The Compassionate Friends ?
Evelyn Rogers says
I agree. This is such a complex loss. Untimely but…. it is loss. We all carry the heart and soul of the person we lost in new and difficult ways .
DCP says
Thank you for expressing your feelings and thoughts for us to process. My husband of 25 years, the father of my two boys died by suicide almost 5 years ago. We have a village of family and friends that have been wonderfully supportive. However, many of them are angry, upset, mad at my husband… thinking that he was selfish for taking his life. That breaks my heart. I find myself defending him, because I know he would never, ever, intentionally (in his healthy mind) put all of us through so much pain.
Fay says
If my boy knew the result on all of our lives.. he might just might not have completed suicide.. but he was so depressed.. and looking back he had been all of his life really.. he really just wanted to end his mental pain and he did.. but ours lives on forever x
Nancy Mullins says
I lost my husband of 40 years to suicide 3/5.2019 and I am carrying around so much grief that I can barely function. He was my everything and I miss him so much. He was sitting about 3 feet away from me when he shot himself. So I also have that trauma to deal with. I am not dealing well. I know I need help but so far have been unable to ask for it.
Kimberly A. Starr says
Nancy, I am so sorry. I cannot imagine this added dimension to a grief journey. You say you have not been able to ask for help, but you just did. Please find a counselor to help you with your complicated grief. You are worthy of help.
Fay says
Please ask for help… love and hugs Fay xx