postvention means an intervention conducted after a suicide, largely taking the form of support for the bereaved. It carries an Arena rating of 1274, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, postvention ranks #400 of 17,149 for Most Exacting Words, #1,898 of 17,138 for Most Incisive Words, #2,109 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #2,933 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books.
Why “postvention” is a great word
A coordinated response to a suicide, focused on supporting the bereaved and mitigating further trauma. The term is a blend of the prefix post- (meaning 'after') and the noun intervention, coined in 1968 by the suicidologist Edwin Shneidman. Unlike prevention, which strives to forestall the tragic event, or a general intervention, which seeks to alter an ongoing crisis, postvention addresses the specific, sprawling consequences left in its wake. It is the hushed gathering in a too-quiet home, the deliberate phone call weeks later when the initial shock has receded, and the careful monitoring of a shattered family’s calendar for the anniversaries that now ring with absence—the necessary, weary work of binding wounds in a world where some events can only be followed, not forestalled.
Etymology
Blend of post- + intervention.
noun
- An intervention conducted after a suicide, largely taking the form of support for the bereaved.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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