ENThe suicide of a beloved person especially shatters the whole life of the bereaved ones. They confront sudden changes in their feelings, attitudes, life choices, and particularly in their relationships with others. One of the most important factors influencing these changes are the varied needs of persons bereaving after an unexpected loss. After the suicide of a family member bereaved people feel confused, it becomes hard for them to understand their own wishes and needs, because they are ambivalent. Sometimes there is a need to withdraw from others, not to talk, to be alone more often, but sometimes the same person may need to talk, to be heard, to feel belonging to society. Sometimes there may be the need to remember and think about the deceased more often, but at times bereaved people wish to forget what happened, to avoid memories. When trying to compare the needs of people bereaving after the loss of a family member in Lithuania and in other countries, some cultural differences can be noticed: Lithuanians tended more often to avoid memories and to keep a distance from other people.Though it must be noted that avoidance (or displacement) might also be a quite effective coping strategy. This avoidance and self-isolation of bereaved people may be related to the discrepancy between the needs of the bereaved and the help that others offer. When suicide survivors feel misunderstood, rejected or stigmatized, they are less likely to talk and unclose to others. As the results of this research show, this avoidance is also two sided: on the one hand, the bereaved person seeks to withdraw because of particular feelings and the expectations of others. But, on the other hand, people in the social network of the bereaved person also meet some difficulties for support due to their fears, attitudes or expectations to the bereaved. Therefore, it is important to take this ambivalence into consideration: if the bereaved person wants to talk, do not silence him/her, if he/she wants to be alone for a while – give some space and do not hurry. [From the publication]