Suicide: Years in the Making

Abstract

In this autoethnographic article, the author struggles to recognize the past in her present, through the discovery of loss and grief in the history of her family and herself. The story of her mother’s completed suicide in the author’s late teens in the context of multiple losses throughout life portray suicide as a possible cumulative emotional reaction to one’s life. The roles of attachment, risk, and resilience are also considered. Returning to the historical socialization of a family and the losses and grief experienced may help explain mental illness, ability, or inability to cope and risk and resilience through the generations.