Suicide is a reality from which most people would like to run as fast as they can, never turn back and have to look at the tragedy again. It is an incredibly agonizing event for many family members and others who were close to the person who committed suicide. However, this need to escape makes many members of our society not console or help the survivors in such times. Oftentimes the survivors are ignored and treated poorly as they try to cope with a loved one's suicide. We like to see ourselves today as more evolved. We like to believe that society does not shun the families and friends of the suicide victim as was done generations ago. We believe we have moved forward in our sensitivities toward sufferers of tragedy, and in many ways, we have. However, in many ways we have not.

While it cannot be honestly claimed that our society is free of the stigma of being a survivor of suicide, we certainly have come a long way from past generations. Property and possessions are no longer seized from the families of suicide victims as was done in centuries past. In most cases, suicide victims are no longer buried outside the cemeteries. Society as a whole tends to be more sensitive towards family survivors of suicide victims instead of condemning them and ostracizing them fron their social groups.

Voices of Strength Sons and Daughters of Suicide Speak Out.

by Judy Zionts Fox, RN, LSW and Mia Roldan

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24th U.S.Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wrote the forward to this book. He lost his father to suicide.