Glossary of Suicide Terminology

A comprehensive glossary of terms commonly used in suicide prevention, grief counseling, and mental health support.

• ABANDONMENT — Unilateral discontinuation of patient treatment by a clinician.
• ABNORMAL GRIEF — Prolonged, difficult, complicated response associated with traumatic loss.
• ACTIVE LISTENING — Hotline technique to reaffirm what caller says he/she feels.
• ACUTE MOURNING — Phase of disorientation, dulled senses, denial, yearning.
• AFTERCARE — Post-death support services to the bereaved.
• ALTRUISTIC SUICIDE — Suicide as self-sacrifice (Durkheim).
• AMBIVALENCE — Suicidal individual's wish to both live and die.
• BEREAVEMENT — State of being deprived by death of a loved one.
• COMPLICATED GRIEF — Grief response that does not resolve naturally over time.
• POSTVENTION — Activities after a suicide to help survivors cope.
• SURVIVOR — Someone who has lost a loved one to suicide.

For the complete glossary, please contact the group leader.