When a family loses someone to suicide, the wait for support can stretch on for years. Pickens County, South Carolina, is working to change that: this July, the county established South Carolina’s first Local Outreach to Suicide Survivors team to connect grieving families with trained support in the immediate aftermath of a loss.
From working with suicide survivors and trauma victims, United States Army veteran and mental health professional Dr. Frank Campbell realized that current post-intervention strategies were not tailored to the needs of two different populations: survivors of suicide attempts and bereaved family members.
He developed the concept of postvention, an approach designed for the bereaved — people struggling with deep grief after a family member or close friend dies. Campbell has been implementing it as a crucial step to prevent suicide since 1986…