Grief in Young Australians Following the Suicide Death of a Friend

Abstract

This paper describes a recent Australian study that applied mixed methods to explore the psychological impact and resultant health behaviours of ten young people aged between 16 and 24 years who had experienced the suicide death of a close friend. It is argued that appropriate postvention support for young people bereaved by suicide needs to take account of broader and more long term developmental impacts within the particular cultural milieu. As such, postvention support for young people should be considered a priority for suicide prevention activities.