It may be helpful to know what others have experienced or found comforting as they struggled to deal with the intense grief that followed the death of their child. The death of a stepchild sets into motion complex issues which vary from family to family for many different reasons. The length and quality of the marriage and the nature of the biological parent or child relationship play a primary role in the grief that follows. Some times personality conflicts make warm relationships impossible, often leaving the stepparent with ambivalent feelings of relief and remorse which further complicates and already complicated situation. The suicide of a child presents unique circumstances that intensify and prolong the parent's mourning.
Suicide is a reaction to overwhelming feelings of loneliness, helplessness and depression.
It is the third leading cause of death for people 15 to 24 years of age and the sixth leading cause of death for children 5 to 14. I had my friends and school activities. My family was just my family. Then the worst nightmare imaginable happened. My sister died.