Suicide, Grief, and Authenticity

Abstract

There are no codes or customs that reciprocate the grief we suffer when somebody we know or love has committed suicide, and neither are such dictates possible. As such, it remains only for us to find our way in coping with our grief in the moments that we live through it. The grief itself can never be eliminated and so we can only choose how we shall confront our situation. The aim of our discussion here is to reveal various attitudes that can be taken in response to the various aspects of the change in our world heralded by somebody’s suicide. Understanding what it is to co-exist with the Other who has died allows us to show what it is to now exist with their absence. The disruption that follows is always open to our choosing whether to act in acceptance or refusal of the complications of the situation, to act either authentically or inauthentically. In our discussion, we shall see that by taking an inauthentic attitude we can overcomplicate our suffering by acting in ways that seem to simplify our grief. Considerations of these attempts to simplify will reveal that in taking an authentic attitude we avoid overcomplicating our grief and spare ourselves much unnecessary suffering. At the heart of everything said will be the freedom to choose our actions and beliefs.