If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts or ideation, help is available:
- Call or text 9-8-8 or go to www.988lifeline.org.
- Call the Columbus Suicide Hotline at 614-221-5445 or go to www.columbussuicideprevention.org.
- Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK
On Saturday, May 4 from noon-2 p.m., Local Outreach to Suicide Survivors (LOSS) hosts its annual Bowl for LOSS and Win event at Sequoia Pro Bowl to raise awareness about suicide postvention and to fund and promote LOSS programs, events, and resources that support suicide loss survivors. You can find more resources and LOSS events at www.losscs.org.
When someone dies of suicide, the pain they felt doesn’t go away; it is left with their loved them to carry. In fact, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) states that on average, every suicide affects 135 community members.
Photo courtesy of LOSS
Central Ohio organization Local Outreach to Suicide Survivors (LOSS) brings these folks, whom they refer to as ‘survivors,’ together to support one another. Members organize events, support groups for those who are grieving, suicide prevention training and more.
Through their shared experiences and understanding, survivors can find that they are not alone.
“It’s not like the grief that you would experience with a death from a natural cause or another medical-related reason, so I think that there are definitely benefits to suicide survivors being able to connect with other suicide survivors to gain a sense of community and understanding and support going forward,” says Brandy Swickard, event coordinator at LOSS. “I do think that our purpose and our mission is to be an installation of hope for those individuals and in turn, empowering survivors so they can thrive in the face of going forward.”
LOSS was founded in 2014 by Denise Meine-Graham, two years after she lost her son Drey to suicide. Since its founding, the organization has touched the lives of more than 5,000 individuals.
The organization started as a first-responders service for survivors. When a suicide is reported to the coroner’s office, the trained volunteers spring into action by connecting with the survivors and providing support, understanding, companionship and resources.
Frank Campbell, executive director emeritus at Baton Rouge Crisis and Trauma Center, first used this response team model in 1998 after he found that survivors would sometimes take years to reach out for support on their own accord.
Photo courtesy of LOSS
Since then, the organization has added four new initiatives including companionship, where survivors meet one-on-one regularly with a volunteer, advocacy and education through working with businesses, churches, other organizations and agencies. It also forms support groups and checks in periodically on survivors as well as hosting events such as the Survivor Day Butterfly Release, and being a constant, reliable source of comfort and empathy.
The organization also offers memory quilts and an online space where survivors can share their stories, create blog posts and write book reviews.
“We focus on what we call postvention,” Swickard says. “Postvention is providing supportive services to individuals after a suicide, and that looks different from prevention, but the interesting thing about postvention efforts is that we can contribute to preventive measures by supporting individuals and the aftercare aspects of a suicide loss. We know that there are statistics that show that it can increase the emotional responses, which can lead to a suicide outcome, and in turn that then kind of translates back into prevention.”
Maisie Fitzmaurice is an editor at Cityscene Media Group. Feedback welcome at mfitzmaurice@cityscenemediagroup.com.
