Overview
Postvention efforts include immediate, short-term, and ongoing support for people grieving a suicide death.
Consider these priorities as your school develops its response approach.
The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention recommends the following for an effective postvention response.
Postvention plan priorities
- Use consistent practices when memorializing students. For example, if your school planted a tree for a student who died in an accident, do the same for a student who died by suicide. Different approaches can reinforce harmful attitudes about suicide.
- Remember that students are resilient. With proper information, guidance, and support, students can learn to cope with the suicide of a fellow student, process their grief, and return to healthy functioning.
- Remember that students can be vulnerable to suicide contagion. Suicide contagion is the process by which one suicide death may contribute to another. Young people can be more susceptible to imitative behavior than adults. Therefore, avoid simplifying, glamorizing, or romanticizing the student or his or her death.
- Know that suicide has multiple causes. However, a student who dies by suicide was likely struggling with significant concerns, such as a mental health condition, even if that pain was not evident to others. It is also important to understand that most people with mental health conditions do not attempt suicide.
- Ensure that help is available for any student who may be struggling with mental health issues or suicidal feelings.
- Consider the religious, cultural, and spiritual diversity of those affected by suicide.