If you need to talk with someone, please call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

Diving Into Death

Suicide can strike anyone, anywhere. It is neither a “cool” Netflix series nor a “committed” crime. Here, a survivor of suicide loss contemplates the aftermath–despair, guilt, blame, rage, fear, faith, and growth–stripped of platitudes and promises, just the raw truth of grief, with the hope that words have the power to comfort, affirm, and ameliorate.

Photo by Lane Smith on Unsplash

LOSS. You cannot imagine and may not even wish to go on without them. Just taking your next breath requires extraordinary strength. Experience others’ stories here.

Photo by Angus Gray on Unsplash

GRIEF. Somehow, the world goes on, but you’re engulfed in pain so deep it wants to swallow you whole. It is terrifying. Explore the facets and phases of grief here.

Photo by Faris Mohammed on Unsplash

OPTIONS. You realize you have three: to follow them into death, to endure in endless pain, or to risk evolving into a new version of you. Consider connecting to other survivors here.

From the Blog

About Jessica Joyce

Survivor of poverty, rape, domestic violence, divorce, severe mental illness in family, estrangement, depression, anxiety … and then, the loss by suicide of my 21-year-old son, Jacob. A middle-aged mother taking shelter near the sea, striving to continue breathing and living. A writer who believes our words have the power to flush out the rage, apply balm to trauma, and help us survive through the sharing of stories.