Connecting, an NGO that deals with suicide prevention and survivor support is now offering home visits as part of their support programme.
Connecting, an NGO that deals with suicide prevention and survivor support is now offering home visits as part of their support programme.
“If there are families in Pune who are affected by suicide and would like to be visited at their homes, our Connecting team is available for that,” said Bobby Zachariah, the CEO of Connecting. “And we assure them of confidentiality”, he added.
Connecting is looking for a way to reach out to more survivors and provide them with the resources they need to deal with the pain.
“Nobody is coming forward to participate in a support group even though we have advertised about this many times. So that tells us about the stigma, shame and guilt associated with suicide. That’s why we have taken the initiative of visiting people at their homes.”
The initiative started about a month ago when a friend of Zachariah’s told him about one of his friends who lost his wife to suicide.
“When my friend told me about this, I told him that we would be happy to come by for a home visit and offer your friend some support,” Zachariah said.
“The situation in the home was very bad. The family said they were totally confused about what happened. This family has isolated itself from friends, neighbours and relatives because they are worried about being blamed for the suicide.
“The family stated that they don’t know who really their friends are anymore or what their neighbours think about them,” Zachariah said. “So they have cut-off their relationships with the neighbours as of now and don’t visit anyone like they used to before. They avoid meeting anyone in person.”
However, meeting with Connecting has given the family the chance to talk about what happened openly.
“The family said this is the first time they spoke to someone about the tragic incident as no one talks to them about this,” Zachariah said.
“So, they felt relieved after openly talking on this matter. They asked us if we could come back after a week,” he said.
The founder of Connecting, Arnavaz Damania, said it is important for survivors to address the emotions and should reach out for support rather than hiding away.
“When an incident like this happens, the family is messed up for years. The sooner they realise it’s not their fault, it would help in healing faster. Such tragic incidents happen but one needs to make sure it doesn’t happen in the future again. And when we visit such families, they learn to cope with the loss of their loved ones.”
Connecting will be observing the International Survivor Day on November 26 from 5 pm to 7.30 pm and will screen a film based
on survivors followed by a discussion.
The event will take place at their office on the Dastur Girls School campus next to the SGS Mall.
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