ABSTRACT
There are many things that we take for granted about our world, perhaps most importantly our relationships with those to whom we are closest. Our assumptions about the world include its safety and predictability, and the continued availability of our loved ones. A sudden death, such as suicide, may violate much of what we believe to be true about our lives. Perhaps more than any other death, a suicide leaves those left behind searching for an answer to the question “Why?” The quest to make sense of that which makes no sense often becomes a central healing task for suicide survivors (see Chapter 9). As Chapter 1 noted, one of the characteristics that all unexpected deaths seem to share is this “shock effect” on the assumptive world of the mourner (Currier, Holland, Coleman, & Neimeyer, 2008; Currier, Holland, & Neimeyer, 2006).
