NPR

After A Suicide, Sibling Survivors Are Often Overlooked

Recent studies show that people who survive a brother or sister's suicide are at great risk of mood disorders and mental health problems, including thoughts of harming themselves.
Taylor Porco was just 14 years old when her brother Jordan died by suicide during his freshman year of college.

When Taylor Porco's brother, Jordan, died by suicide during his freshman year at college in February 2011, people told her to be strong for her parents who were incapacitated by their grief. Hardly anyone seemed to notice that Porco, only 14 at the time, was suffering and suicidal.

"I was really depressed and in such extreme pain. Nothing literally mattered to me after he died. All I wanted was my brother back. I never loved someone as much as I loved him, " she says.

Porco's experience is hardly unique. Approximately 25,000 people each year become sibling survivors of suicide, according to the support group, .Those who lose a

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from NPR

NPR6 min read
Shipbuilders Harness The Wind To Clean Up Global Shipping
Container ships use heavy fuel oil called bunker fuel. They’re more efficient than trains, trucks and planes. But bunker fuel is highly polluting, and container ships produce about 3% of the world’s emissions.
NPR4 min read
How Do You Build Without Over Polluting? That's The Challenge Of New Catan Board Game
A new version of the popular board game Catan aims to make players wrestle with a 21st-century problem: How do you develop and expand without overly polluting the planet?
NPR4 min readCrime & Violence
Heated Arguments At The Supreme Court In Newest Abortion Case
At issue is a clash between federal and state law about how pregnant women must be treated in the emergency room.

Related Books & Audiobooks