Jeff Baena, the director and screenwriter married to Aubrey Plaza, tragically passed away by suicide last week at the age of 47, leaving his family, friends, and the public in shock.
Plaza and Baena’s family are asking for privacy as they cope with the tragedy. “This is an unimaginable loss,” said a statement to USA TODAY from Plaza and the Baena family. “We are deeply grateful for the support we’ve received. Please respect our privacy during this time.” Tributes for Baena and messages of support for Plaza have been pouring in, including a mention at the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday by director Brady Corbet, who dedicated his Best Director win to the couple.
When someone dies unexpectedly, it often feels like the world has shifted in an instant. Without warning and with no time to prepare, it leaves those closest to the person with overwhelming trauma. “People experiencing sudden loss may feel shock, disbelief, confusion, and even denial,” said licensed psychologist Shavonne Moore-Lobban. “The suddenness of the loss can be too much to process, and it may feel too unreal to fully comprehend at first.”
In the case of suicide, the impact is even more profound. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for every suicide, there are six to 32 survivors – family and friends left behind to deal with the loss. More than a million people each year find themselves in this situation, navigating grief and trying to understand a death that feels impossible to explain. Suicide is a complex issue with no single cause, but this does little to lessen the grief.
Suicide loss survivors face unique challenges in their healing process. Experts emphasize that their pain is often underestimated, and the stigma surrounding suicide can add to their burden. Many survivors experience shock, fear, shame, and anger while also grappling with the pressure to keep their loved one’s death a secret or the misguided belief that they could have prevented it.
Thomas Joiner, a researcher who lost his father to suicide, discussed in his book Why People Die by Suicide how some people struggled to show sympathy after his father’s death because they couldn’t understand suicide. He wrote, “For some people, understanding didn’t matter and wasn’t a barrier to acting with real generosity of spirit. For others, the lack of understanding seemed insurmountable, so their compassion was limited.”
The grief from losing someone to suicide is deep and complex, and those left behind often find it difficult to navigate their emotions while facing a world that may not fully understand their pain.
