Day of Healing for Survivors of Suicide Loss

At a conference in Palo Alto, bags of colored beads sat on a table. Attendees wore them to honor their loved ones who killed themselves: white for a child, gold for a parent. Holly Diamond wore purple.

"I lost a really close friend when I was 16 in 2001 and it's something that you never get over, but you learn to cope," Diamond said. "And, even the year that my friend passed away, I knew that one of those funerals is enough."

KCBS’ Margie Shafer Reports

Nine years later, the thought still brings tears to her eyes, but she has focused on moving forward.

"Talking is so important. That really helped me," Diamond said. "Knowing that you're not alone. So knowing that you can talk about it and that you'll find other people, like in this event. There's 50 people that can relate, even though their stories are different, they can relate to each other."

Four Gunn High School students recently killed themselves on Caltrain tracks and Diamond said it is one of the leading causes of deaths for teens in that age group.

And she said many of those left behind suffer from survivor guilt, which needs to be worked through.

(kmi)