Quote:
Originally Posted by ECHOES
I think your group would be a much safer place if you decided to address this and what the expectations are when someone makes a benign statement like you did. It wasn't about suicide, it was about what was going on with you at that moment that felt so overwhelming and unbearable. What you needed was support in that, not judgement for being in pain. Suicidal thoughts can be seen as a way of saying "I am in *this much* pain"... Maybe you could lead your group to a discussion of this and it could include how something like this could be handled in the future. Learning from life's lessons is the best.
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I agree. The group should be led to deal with this. In addition to the fact that members of the group are still upset by this, there's the possibility that if it happened once, it'll happen again. It might be helpful to get the original friend's help on this--like ask her to prepare a comment of what she wishes she had done, instead of what she did. Another thing you might try very hard to do is to step back from the personal effects and look at what the group needs to do in order to be healthy and be safe for all its members, and use your experience as testimony, not as focus.
