The Healing Narratives of Suicide Grief

Andrea lost a good friend to suicide 8 years ago and shared her story of this in episode 28 Andrea is back to share what it was like telling her 7 year old twins and how she has coped with the mental health difficulties of her son, Isaac.
We discuss-
how to tell the children of a suicide loss and how to support them in grief.
the effect suicide loss had on Isaac.
how Andrea coped with Isaac’s suicide attempt and strategies she used to support him.
how Andrea started to look after her own mental health and find her own support.
the compassionate use of language around mental health.
school ‘refusal’ and how to cope.
how as parents and caregivers we need to understand the impact on ourselves in order to become assertive with other people about our children’s best interests.
Please listen with care and know there are people out there that can help and support you. 
Within the UK: 
Samaritans - Free on 116 123 
Suicide&Co - Free on 0800 054 8400 Mon-Friday 9aam-9pm 
Within the US: 
Suicide Hotline: Free on 1-800-273-8255 or text 742741 
Find Dr Sue:
Instagram
Facebook
Linked In
For more resources: www.suicidegriefsupport.com
For EMDR Grief Retreats - www.EMDRGriefRetreat.com
 
The links you need from this episode:
Andrea on Instagram
Andrea on Facebook
Andrea's website
Parenting Mental Health Website

Cindy lost her 19 year old son, Andrew, the youngest of her 5 children, to suicide 4 years ago.
Cindy speaks openly and honestly about how being a mum defines who she is and, since losing Andrew, how she has managed the physical and emotional manifestation of grief.
Part of Cindy’s journey has been to start a charity – the Aslan foundation – in order to support others with teenagers struggling with their mental health.
Cindy’s story is both moving and heartfelt – showing us how a mother’s love endures through everything and how Andrew will forever live on in her.
 
Please listen with care and know there are people out there that can help and support you. 
Within the UK: 
Samaritans - Free on 116 123 
Suicide&Co - Free on 0800 054 8400 Mon-Friday 9aam-9pm 
Within the US: 
Suicide Hotline: Free on 1-800-273-8255 or text 742741 
Find Dr Sue:
Instagram
Facebook
Linked In
For more resources: www.suicidegriefsupport.com
For EMDR Grief Retreats - www.EMDRGriefRetreat.com
 
The links you need from this episode:
The Aslan Foundation – Offering Help For today, Light for tomorrow, and hope a the future
Instagram - The Aslan Foundation Mental Health Page
Instagram - Aslan’s SurvivorsofSuicideLoss Page

20 years ago, Nick lost a friend at high school to suicide. Nick’s friend, Zaf had struggled with what was known as Manic Depression at the time (now recognised as Bipolar) and Nick discusses the struggles Zaf faced as a teenager.
Nick shares the effect grief and guilt had on him and, without any support available to him or his friends at the time, why he had no idea how (or even why) to process his feelings.
We hope that by Nick sharing his story, we can understand how adolescents may process grief and how we can best support them. For example, we discuss how it is best to foster open emotional relationships with adolescents so that when events like this happen, talking about emotions is acceptable and safe.
Nick has learnt how to embrace his feelings and feels he is more emotionally mature due to what happened to Zaf. In particular, Nick has channelled some of his guilt into becoming a Samaritans listening volunteer and discusses the charity’s values and beliefs about suicide and how they support suicidal people.
Please listen with care and know there are people out there that can help and support you. 
Within the UK: 
Samaritans - Free on 116 123 
Suicide&Co - Free on 0800 054 8400 Mon-Friday 9aam-9pm 
Within the US: 
Suicide Hotline: Free on 1-800-273-8255 or text 742741 
Find Dr Sue:
Instagram
Facebook
Linked In
For more resources: www.suicidegriefsupport.com
For EMDR Grief Retreats - www.EMDRGriefRetreat.com

This is Sara’s story of losing her son, Billy, to suicide in 2019. Sara trained to be a counsellor 20 years ago and found it helpful in staying strong and calm whilst caring for Billy during a long period of mental health difficulties shrouded by drug misuse.
Sarah is passionate about talking about Billy and the discrimination he faced and her need to support him 24/7.  Since Billy’s death, Sara has become an advocate for raising awareness about the often ignored condition of Bipolar whilst seeking justice for Billy.
In her story, Sara challenges and explains why some views of supporting suicidal people may not always be helpful and how cold water swimming has helped her cope with the confusing emotions she can often feel.
This is a story of courage and justice.
 
Please listen with care and know there are people out there that can help and support you. 
Within the UK: 
Samaritans - Free on 116 123 
Suicide&Co - Free on 0800 054 8400 Mon-Friday 9aam-9pm 
Within the US: 
Suicide Hotline: Free on 1-800-273-8255 or text 742741 
Find Dr Sue:
Instagram
Facebook
Linked In
For more resources: www.suicidegriefsupport.com
For EMDR Grief Retreats - www.EMDRGriefRetreat.com
 
The links you need from this episode:
Sara on Instagram
The Midnight Library book
When It Is Darkest book
 

Andrea lost her friend, Chris, to suicide 8 years ago. Chris had bipolar and Andrea and her family had supported him through his highs and lows.
In this episode hear how:
Andrea coped with telling her young children and how they have processed it since,
she hid herself from the anger (towards herself and Chris) and then managed to process it – basically how she processed the conflict of “you caused us this pain” and “it wasn’t your fault,”
Andrea’s physiotherapy career has taken a turn since realising humans are emotional and physical beings,
Andrea handled the guilt of thinking she could have saved Chris,
different therapies have helped her,
Andrea handled the internal argument between her body, heart and mind.
Andrea has found self-compassion using art.
Please listen with care and know there are people out there that can help and support you. 
Within the UK: 
Samaritans - Free on 116 123 
Suicide&Co - Free on 0800 054 8400 Mon-Friday 9aam-9pm 
Within the US: 
Suicide Hotline: Free on 1-800-273-8255 or text 742741 
Find Dr Sue:
Instagram
Facebook
Linked In
For more resources: www.suicidegriefsupport.com
For EMDR Grief Retreats - www.EMDRGriefRetreat.com
 
The links you need from this episode:
Parenting Mental Health
Andrea's website - Rafiki Art
Andrea on Instagram
Andrea on Facebook

This is an inspiring story of hope from Bee, a suicide attempt survivor who wishes to help suicide loss-survivors heal from the responsibility and guilt they may feel.
Since her attempt, Bee is on a mission as a mental health advocate to make sure she does all she can to reduce the lives lost to suicide. After having her own grief and struggling with mental health problems since a young age, Bee gives amazing insights on her own journey.
Hear us discuss many issues of mental health and suicide. Including why Bee did what she did that day and how she shares this to help us understand how depression confused her thinking so much and clouded reality.
Please listen to this with extra care. Bee and I share this discussion because I do believe by understanding suicide more, we can start to make sense of why our loved ones did what they did.  I am also acutely aware that there is always a myriad of reasons why people take their own lives, but hope that with the complexity of every suicide-attempt story I share, society begin to understand that suicide is never simple.
I am also very aware that stories like this can be difficult to listen to as suicide-loss survivors because we so wish our loved ones were still here to share their story. Hence please listen when you feel able to and switch off at any point if you are noticing it is too much for you to hear right now. These podcasts will remain here as long as podcasts exist, so you can always revisit it when you are at a different point in your journey with grief.
Please listen with care and know there are people out there that can help and support you. 
Within the UK: 
Samaritans - Free on 116 123 
Suicide&Co - Free on 0800 054 8400 Mon-Friday 9aam-9pm 
Within the US: 
Suicide Hotline: Free on 1-800-273-8255 or text 742741 
Find Dr Sue:
Instagram
Facebook
Linked In
For more resources: www.suicidegriefsupport.com
For EMDR Grief Retreats - www.EMDRGriefRetreat.com
 
The links you need from this episode:
Bee on Instagram
Bee on Facebook
Twitter: Beeinspiredtalk 
 

Breanna talks of losing her high school friend to suicide 5 years ago and how she developed her therapeutic yoga practice to heal from her loss.
Breanna’s story is full of helpful information about grief yoga and how we can heal our bodies. Hear what grief yoga is and what the benefits are amongst Breanna’s experience of different types of loss. Particularly how her high school group of friends coped with their friend’s suicide and the inevitability of guilt amongst everyone.
Breanna’s story shows us how there is no hierarchy to grief – no limit - everyone who cared for that person is entitled to experience grief based on their relationship and everyone deserves to be acknowledged and supported.
 
Please listen with care and know there are people out there that can help and support you. 
Within the UK: 
Samaritans - Free on 116 123 
Suicide&Co - Free on 0800 054 8400 Mon-Friday 9aam-9pm 
Within the US: 
Suicide Hotline: Free on 1-800-273-8255 or text 742741 
Find Dr Sue:
Instagram
Facebook
Linked In
For more resources: www.suicidegriefsupport.com
For EMDR Grief Retreats - www.EMDRGriefRetreat.com
 
The links you need from this episode:
https://breannayoga.com/
Breanna's Grief Series
Breanna on Instagram

Olivia is bravely living with the effects of her father’s suicide attempt and has lost her Aunty and several friends to suicide.
This is Olivia's story.
As a clinical psychologist from South Africa, Olivia recognises she wears two hats – a caring professional for a suicide liaison service in North London and a daughter who grew up trying to cope with her father’s mental health problems, addictions and consequently, the brain damage he is left living with.
 We discuss:
The grieving process when your loved one changes beyond the person you remember.
Anger which needed to be redirected away from internalisation.
The effect of trauma on the body and mind.
How Olivia managed as a child living in a chaotic world.
Shame and how it affected both Olivia and her father.
The difference between shame and guilt.
Merging the professional and the personal after suicide.
How Olivia manages to continue to live with her father’s illness and physical condition.
Please listen with care and know there are people out there that can help and support you. 
Within the UK: 
Samaritans - Free on 116 123 
Suicide&Co - Free on 0800 054 8400 Mon-Friday 9aam-9pm 
Within the US: 
Suicide Hotline: Free on 1-800-273-8255 or text 742741 
Find Dr Sue:
Instagram
Facebook
Linked In
For more resources: www.suicidegriefsupport.com
For EMDR Grief Retreats - www.EMDRGriefRetreat.com
 
The Links you need from this episode:
Rethink Mental Illness
Email: Olivia.Guerini@rethink.org