They are particularly insistent that therapists refrain from contact with their significant others. This is often deeply resented by the other people in their lives, who may project much of their frustration onto the unseen therapist. They are angry about the therapist's unwillingness to talk with them, naive about the responsibility to maintain confidentiality. When patients do commit suicide, many family members are primed to blame therapists, particularly if they have had little or no previous interaction with them. When people are feeling guilty about their own possible role in bringing about their loved one's death, they are even more likely to project blame onto the therapist.
Anger is a common defense against guilt.
Such situations are especially prone to result in lawsuits. When patients have been involved in abusive and exploitive relationships and commit suicide, the abuser may take the therapist as the next victim. Unscrupulous individuals may see such situations as an opportunity for profit. Whether lawsuits are justified or not, the process can be long and blistering. Some have been known to go on for as long as ten years, leaving a cloud over the therapist's practice and life the whole time.