“I Wish He Had Died in the War”: Suicide Survivors—the Israeli Case

Abstract

This article presents the findings of a study about the impact of parental suicide on the surviving children, undertaken in Israel in 1999 by a researcher who is a suicide survivor herself. The method employed was qualitative, and in-depth interviews were analyzed inductively. It was found that parental suicide is a meaningful event for the children, and its impact lasts for many years. At the same time, survivors wish to overcome this impact by regaining control over their lives as adults. It was found that the way suicide is perceived by its survivors is socially and contextually related and had to do with the character of the Israeli state and the way death and bereavement are perceived in it.