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Jana and Donna Schuurman discuss terms to avoid, and what to say instead, when talking about suicide. Here is a link to download our Tip Sheet\\xa0on how to support children and teens who have had someone die of suicide.

Terms not to use (and why):

1. \\u201cCommitted Suicide\\u201d

Committed suicide,\\u2019 with its implications of criminality, is a carryover from the Middle Ages, when civil authorities, finding the victim beyond their reach, punished the survivors by confiscating their property. Victims were forbidden traditional funerals and burials, and suicide was considered both illegal and sinful by the laws and religions of the time.

2. \\u201cCompleted Suicide\\u201d or "Successful Suicide"

These terms make it seem like something to celebrate: He completed this! She was successful!

3. \\u201cSuicided\\u201d

We don\'t say someone "cancered" or "car accident-ed"...

4. Using "suicide" as a noun (as in "he was a suicide")\\xa0

This reduces the person to the mode of their death.\\xa0

Better terms:

1. Died by Suicide

The Compassionate Friends was the first to officially adopt the terms \\u2018died by suicide\\u2019 or \\u2018died of suicide. \\u2019

2. Died of Suicide\\xa0

Here\'s a general Rule of Thumb: If you can\\u2019t substitute the word \\u201cCancer,\\u201d you may want to reconsider how you\'re using the word "suicide." He died of cancer: He died of suicide.

3. State how the person died (jumped off a bridge; took an overdose); of course, this is the personal preference of family members, something not all will choose to do)

4. \\u201cSuicide Death\\u201d

\\xa0Advocated by the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention. (Some find it repetitive in that suicide IS by definition a death. (Whereas, for example \\u201ccancer\\u201d by definition does not always mean a death.)