Understanding parental suicide: one mum's journey, and a book to help kids

Following  her husband’s tragic death, psychologist Trudy Meehan decided to write a storybook to help her child come to terms with losing her father

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AFTER the shock of her husband’s death by suicide, Trudy Meehan’s biggest concern was how she would support their two-year-old daughter, Meara.

“There’s obviously grief and shock and — with death through suicide — the stigma that’s still around, the guilt,” Meehan says. “And ours wasn’t the usual story: Our relationship had broken up, and he died after that. A relationship break-up is a big trigger for suicide,” says Wexford-based Meehan, who sees a lot of talk about suicide prevention, but not much about the people left behind.