The Impacts of Suicide Loss – Suicide Prevention Resource Center

A new systematic review found that people who had experienced suicide bereavement (i.e., suicide loss) were at higher risk of suicide and mental health challenges than non-bereaved groups and those bereaved due to other causes of death.

The researchers conducted a systematic review of studies on mortality, health, and social outcomes following suicide loss, focusing on differences in kinship and comparison group. They identified 36 studies published between 2005 and 2024 using registry data from seven countries and three continents. Most studies examined bereaved offspring (n = 20), followed by bereaved parents (n = 8), spouses (n = 5), siblings (n = 5), and unspecified familial relations (n = 5).

Overall, suicide loss was associated with mental and physical health challenges as well as mortality, particularly suicide. However, results differed based on kinship and comparison group.

Among suicide-bereaved spouses, men had 6.4 times and women had 8.5 times the risk of dying by suicide within five years of the loss, compared to the general population. Suicide-bereaved parents had up to 3.2 times higher suicide risk compared to parents who had lost a child due to other causes. Children who had lost a parent to suicide were at the highest risk for suicide if the loss occurred before age 18. Suicide-bereaved siblings had more than twice the risk of suicide compared to siblings bereaved by other causes, with risk higher in bereaved women than in men.

This review has several limitations, including the registry data’s focus on familial relationships and lack of information about factors such as the degree of closeness to the person who died. Additionally, the included studies do not reflect the global variation in suicide stigma and its influences on loss survivors across different cultures.

Still, these findings have key implications for clinical and public health practice, especially in postvention and efforts to address mood and anxiety disorders, declines in physical health, and disruptions in employment and education.

Future studies can build on this systematic review by exploring the effects of suicide loss on other types of relationships (such as friends, roommates, and romantic partners), patterns of co-occurring health conditions, and how risk varies by the amount of time since a loss.

Slimovitch, R., Flesaker, M., Rosellini, A. J., & Gradus, J. L. (2026). Suicide loss and its impacts on mortality, and mental, physical, and social health outcomes: A systematic review of registry-based studies. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 34(3), 159–171. https://doi.org/10.1097/HRP.0000000000000462

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Author: Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC)

Publisher: Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC)

Year Published/Updated: 2026

Resource Type: Research Summary