The loneliness, grief and isolation wraps around life for those who have survived the loss of a loved one dying by suicide.
When Chelcee Hill’s stepbrother died by suicide 11 years ago, his death sent shockwaves throughout her entire family. Despite the trauma, no one knew where to go for help, how to get resources to cope or how to even talk about it.
Hill wants to ensure others who go through a similar pain know.
“I want to show them that they’re not alone. That was one thing I felt, other than questioning how this could happen. There was this stigma of talking about it and feeling isolated,” she said. “There are a lot of people out there who have felt the same thing, which just goes to show you how big of an issue suicide actually is.”
Local mental health advocates and other officials are banding together to create an outreach for survivors of suicide loss. They hope to launch ATLAS — Assisting Through Loss After Suicide — in early 2022.
The volunteer response team will help individuals who have lost a loved one to suicide by providing rapid support to ensure loss survivors are not alone. Those volunteers also connect loss survivors to resources for ongoing support, said Kathleen Ratcliff, executive director of Upstream Prevention, one of the partners in the ATLAS initiative.
“The hope is to provide that ‘post-vention as prevention’ — that follow-up after somebody has died by suicide, getting resources into the hands of those who have been left behind,” she said.
Suicide remains a prevalent issue facing Johnson County. Between 2015 and 2020, the county lost 128 individuals to suicide — an average of 25 per year, according to Upstream Prevention.
The shattering effects of those deaths is staggering. Research suggests that 135 individuals are exposed to suicide for each death, with an average of 11 people where the loss has a long-lasting impact on their lives, Ratcliff said.
That means more than 17,000 people were exposed to suicide through Johnson County’s deaths between 2015 and 2020, with 768 people facing long-lasting impact on their lives.
“What research has shown is those loss survivors feel more isolated and alone, are at greater risk for suicide themselves, and it takes them a while to get some of those resources and support,” Ratcliff said.
Because of the stigma surrounding suicide, often those people have no guidance about resources, counseling or support groups to help with their loss, said Hill, who is an ATLAS co-coordinator.
“There was no help, no resources. Luckily for me at the time, I was in college, so I could find a little bit more help in that way. But there still wasn’t much,” she said.
For her family, the after-effects of the tragedy are still felt in the present.
“There was a lot of guilt from lots of different people. I know for some, they’re still struggling today,” Hill said.
The creation of the ATLAS team stems from an effort by Indiana officials to have these groups active in counties throughout the state. The group is a subset of Upstream Prevention, a nonprofit focused on youth substance abuse, mental health and healthy behaviors, and the Suicide Prevention Coalition of Johnson County.
ATLAS organizers have worked with Mike Pruitt, deputy fire chief at the Bargersville Community Fire Department, and county coroner, to get the program launched. They are also reaching out to other first responders throughout the county.
ATLAS members are available 24 hours a day, and can be contacted by the coroner’s office following a possible suicide. Once it has been confirmed, the team can respond to be available for loved ones of that person.
Teams are comprised of two or three individuals, including someone who is a loss survivor themselves.
“They can say, ‘I’ve been in your shoes. I’ve lost someone. You can get through it. Here is how we can help,’” Ratcliff said.
That first-person perspective is paired with skills offered by the other members of the team, often a mental health professional, a member of the faith community or trained volunteer.
“We have some immediate resources that are left for them, not in an overwhelming way, but when they’re ready to look at them, to find supports,” Ratcliff said. “Really, it’s just about someone showing up to support them on what is likely one of the worst days of their life.”
Organizers are in the process of recruiting volunteers to be part of the team. Hopefully, they can be ready to serve by March. The challenge is finding enough volunteers to staff the teams. Volunteers can learn more and apply through a special website set up for ATLAS at www.upstreamprevention.org/atlas.
“We need enough volunteers that have been through the training so that we have enough people,” Ratcliff said. “The goal is that nobody goes out after a suicide more than once a week, and the shorter the rotations can be.”
