@article{ref1,
title="COVID-19 suicide survivors-a hidden grieving population",
journal="Frontiers in psychiatry",
year="2020",
author="Coelho, Rui and Curral, Rosário and Silva, Alzira and Soares, Joana and Pinto, Sara",
volume="11",
number="",
pages="e626807-e626807",
abstract="Present time has been dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic. People are grieving several non-death related situations: the loss of a job, of a status, of a role, of  their life. Restrictive measures and uncertainty about the future makes individuals  vulnerable to feelings of hopelessness and helplessness. Mental health support has  been hindered and teams are reinventing themselves to reach people in need. Nevertheless, decompensation of previous psychiatric disorders, increasing levels of  depression and anxiety, economical handicaps and fear of the infection, are  prompting several cases of COVID-19 related suicides worldwide. Every suicide  affects between 5 and 80 individuals, which are known as suicide survivors. Suicide  grief is particularly challenging, with rates of complicated grief as high as 40%. Suicide survivors are at increased risk of developing depression, anxiety disorders  and of suicidal behaviors. Moreover, feelings of guilt and shame, as well as social  stigma, are major obstacles for them to reach form help. This article aims to review  the existing literature on COVID-19 related suicides, complicated grief in suicide  survivors and highlight modifiable risk factors for both conditions, as well as  propose some public health measures to reduce the impact of the pandemic context on  self-inflicted harm and its consequences on families, friends and the community. Obstacles to access to mental health support need to be overcome through the use of  technology. Technicians should actively approach populations more vulnerable to  develop suicidal ideation. Social media have the obligation to provide accurate an  non-sensationalistic information. Families and friends should maintain social  proximity, despite the need for physical distancing. When a suicide death occurs,  police forces and health staff should be prepared to share the news with the family  using an empathic and humane approach and providing psychological support. Funerals,  memorials and other services should be held as much as possible. Closer contacts  should be signalized and closely followed in order to detect the need for specific  interventions. Help seeking behaviors should be promoted. Additionally, people  should be educated on suicide and its impacts, in order to reduce stigma.  Keywords: Bereavement <p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1664-0640",
doi="10.3389/fpsyt.2020.626807",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.626807"
}