Lived experience of suicide is…

Lived experience of suicide is diverse and changing. We believe that it is the right of an individual to describe their experiences of suicide in the way they choose.

CriticLE distinguish between a personal lived experience and a non-personal lived experience noting that there are key differences in how these experiences impact our lives and the way we use them to affect change. We define each as:

• A personal lived experience is when a person experiences thoughts of suicide or actions related to suicide either themselves or in relation to someone personally close to them.

• A non-personal lived experience is when a person experiences suicide in places where they work or in spaces unrelated to people who are personally close to them.

These experiences can have a range of impacts on the way we live our lives and the breadth and depth of these impacts is not dependent on whether our experience is personal or non-personal.

Some ways that people with a lived experience use to describe their experiences are as ‘a person who’:

• Has had or lives with thoughts of suicide

• Has survived a suicide attempt

• Has cared or cares for a person who lives with thoughts of suicide or has made a suicide attempt

• Is bereaved by suicide

• Has experienced a suicide loss (for example a loved one, a client, a student etc)

When using our lived experiences in practice, it is important to recognise the way each experience shapes our worldview and offers us different levels of power within the suicide prevention system. We all have a responsibility for making space for marginalised voices of lived experience and to know when we should stand up but also to step back to allow these voices to be heard.

We embrace all forms of lived experience and the ways that people identify them.