Grief and loss

August is the Month of Grief for me

replies: 3

August is such an awful month for me, just filled with grief. I lost some of the most wonderful people during the month of August. Last Friday I sat quietly and grieved the loss of a wonderful, beautiful man. It's been 3 years but that pain hasn't su... View more

August is such an awful month for me, just filled with grief. I lost some of the most wonderful people during the month of August. Last Friday I sat quietly and grieved the loss of a wonderful, beautiful man. It's been 3 years but that pain hasn't subsided nor has he left my thoughts. Pretty soon the anniversary of the loss of my father will come around, its been 11 years but I wish he was here now. This morning the news of others who have passed, brings it all back. I suppose I just want someone, everyone to know that I am still thinking of them, daily!

My angel is gone

replies: 22

Those of you who know me know that my two little birds and my partner are my world. My partner had a heart and lung transplant two years ago. His body is now rejecting those lungs and they have thrown every treatment at it they can, to no avail. His ... View more

Those of you who know me know that my two little birds and my partner are my world. My partner had a heart and lung transplant two years ago. His body is now rejecting those lungs and they have thrown every treatment at it they can, to no avail. His health is in steady decline, the lungs severely damaged. In all likelihood he will need another transplant. There is no guarantee of finding a suitable donor in time. We don't know how this will play out, how long he has left. That is cause enough for grief. Throughout the many hospital stays this year, there have been a few scares and vet trips for our first-born little bird, Sir Pecks (not his real name). It took so long for them to even identify why he was unwell. His liver had become very enlarged and was causing him great discomfort. He was so sleepy all the time, was frantic about eating, he barely sang or preened any more. He was struggling to breathe. Our sweet, happy little bird, our child, who loved to sing at the top of his lungs right in our ears, who loved to play and bathe and pinch bits of our breakfast, is now gone. We feel so empty and lost and heartbroken to be without him. That in no way diminishes our love for his brother, of course, but our grief is so huge. It's hard to face each day, knowing he won't be there, screaming at us for attention and getting into everything. I miss him so much, and I am scared for my partner. I feel like my family is crumbling and I have no power to do anything about it. How do you live with grief like this?

Dealing with GRIEF and LOSS

replies: 18

Hello Everyone, I would like to open up a discussion about grief and loss, how it affects you, how you cope with it, and what you have found helpful. You may have a poem you find comforting you might like to share with us all, a book that has been es... View more

Hello Everyone, I would like to open up a discussion about grief and loss, how it affects you, how you cope with it, and what you have found helpful. You may have a poem you find comforting you might like to share with us all, a book that has been especially beneficial, advice from people, wisdom you have learnt through your own experience perhaps. Maybe you need a place to share your grief and loss experience. My sense of grief has been heightened recently with the anniversary of a child's death and the upcoming 1st anniversary of a family member's death. I have found sharing on this forum has helped me immensely, as people here understand have compassion and empathy. Long walks, writing down how I am feeling, connecting with people, gardening, reading books when the thoughts are too sad to take and other times accepting the memories has helped. Please feel free to use this space to share your thoughts if you are comfortable to do so. Sending you all kind thoughts as you deal with thoughts about your grief and loss. Regards form Dools

my mum died and i miss her badly.

replies: 13

Im 28 years old and my mum died VERY EXEXPECTEDLY with a massive stroke/brain annerysm in November 2017. It was quite confronting as my brother, dad and I sat with her for days in ICU on life support completly unconcious where we told we had to turn ... View more

Im 28 years old and my mum died VERY EXEXPECTEDLY with a massive stroke/brain annerysm in November 2017. It was quite confronting as my brother, dad and I sat with her for days in ICU on life support completly unconcious where we told we had to turn it off. It all went so fast and we just had to deal with what happend. Its been a year and a half but Im feeling like the grief is becoming a little harder. People who have/are experiencing greif. How long does it last? I know there is no right or wrong answer and I know everyone is different. But im just so mentally tired and drained from being so sad and not letting go. My boyfriend has been so supportive, I think its so unfair for him that I am so emotional all the time.

Mental Health & My Dog

replies: 3

A year ago I survived Domestic Violence after realising I’d been mentally and emotionally abused for 2 years. Unfortunately due to my loneliness in the relationship I had gotten a Labrador puppy just a month earlier. The domestic violence lead to hos... View more

A year ago I survived Domestic Violence after realising I’d been mentally and emotionally abused for 2 years. Unfortunately due to my loneliness in the relationship I had gotten a Labrador puppy just a month earlier. The domestic violence lead to hospitalisation, homelessness, coming to realise I was a drug addict thanks to my ex, quitting my job to go to rehab and then also finally after 8 months of begging for help, finally getting a diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder, CPTD, insomnia, substance abuse and I already had suffered depression for 20 years as well as anxiety. it’s been a year since my world fell apart. I’ve worked tirelessly to keep my puppy. I’ve worked so hard to train him each and everyday. We live in a 2 bedroom flat with a small backyard where he gets bored. We have no money and I need to work. But he will destroy the place while I’m at work. And I know I’ll be tired when I get home as I am still considered to be in a crisis situations despite it being a year on. I have such guilt that it’s just him and me and he whines out of boredom despite me walking him twice a day. The breeder I purchased him off made us sign a contract saying that if he needs to be rehomed he must be taken back to her to get a good home which is good. But if I do give him up how do I live with myself? If it wasn’t for him I’d be dead a million times over this past year. But if I didn’t have him I wouldn’t have any anxiety about working, I’d be able to focus on my recovery and wellness and exercise and health. But for so long it’s been either me or him and I alway choose to have his needs tended too first. I see him as a child. I don’t know what to do, and borderline personality can’t be fixed with a pill. It’s lifelong. I don’t know how we will survive financially for the next 10-14 years if I can’t work due to my anxiety over leaving him. I m damned if I do and damned if I don’t. His 15 months old now and 37.5kgs. The vet can’t believe his size. And it’s caused problems such as him pulling me to my knees 5 times over the period of 3 weeks injuring my meniscus. I’m scared I’ll never run again. And I used to run and weight train before Covid for mental health.I even did a half marathon. As I said, it’s either him or me and I never choose myself so I suffer.

Struggle

replies: 1

Hi I don’t know if this right place to post this or asks for assistance but here goes, I lost my father 20 months ago to suicide and then my mother 4 1/2 months ago to suicide also. I decided after my fathers passing to study through tafe nsw but aft... View more

Hi I don’t know if this right place to post this or asks for assistance but here goes, I lost my father 20 months ago to suicide and then my mother 4 1/2 months ago to suicide also. I decided after my fathers passing to study through tafe nsw but after my mothers passing I can’t seem to function or seek right resources I’m looking for individuals feedback or opinions on the following question How is mental health marginalised in your community in the following areas of work and life:Political

Still grieving my mum

replies: 1

I lost my mum 17 years ago and yesterday I got completely emotional wishing she was back. Earlier in the year I had my first baby. I just wish my mum could meet my baby. Yesterday I started to look at baby photos of mine to compare my daughter to mys... View more

I lost my mum 17 years ago and yesterday I got completely emotional wishing she was back. Earlier in the year I had my first baby. I just wish my mum could meet my baby. Yesterday I started to look at baby photos of mine to compare my daughter to myself at the same age and saw all the photos of mum holding me. All this brought back memories and is what made me upset. Mum would of loved to become a grandmother and I feel that I'm missing out on so much that she's not here. I just don't know how I'm going to move on.

Is it normal not to cry much when your pet dies?

replies: 6

Last year around this time, my cat passed away because he was very old. When I saw him dying at home, I cried a little bit, but I wasn't a wreck. My parents were also sad, but I don't think they cried. I went to work because otherwise I would have be... View more

Last year around this time, my cat passed away because he was very old. When I saw him dying at home, I cried a little bit, but I wasn't a wreck. My parents were also sad, but I don't think they cried. I went to work because otherwise I would have been at home by myself with my cat dying which would have been hard. All day, I felt really weird. When I got home, my Mum told me she made an appointment with the vet to put him down. When we got there, and this is going to sound strange I guess, we probably seemed quite happy. When my Mum saw the vet she said "Here is a very old, little Grandpa" and the vet asked us how long we had him for and I said since I was in year 5. At the time I was thinking more about how I was happy that my cat lived a long, happy life rather than the fact that I was losing him and I think my Mum was thinking in the same way. The vet took him to the other room to see another vet to organize things and then came back out and put him back on the table and Mum and I were patting him as the injection was going in and then he passed away. The vet then asked if we wanted some time alone and I said I would so she went to the next room and closed the door and as Mum and I were talking, I heard her quietly laugh and say to the other vet "I think I would have been worser off." The next day, Dad wrote an email to my sisters to let them know that he passed away and my older sister was sad, but she wasn't broken (I think she thought of it in the same way I did as well), but my younger sister was extremely upset. I think his passing actually affects me more these days than it did on the day. I sometimes have dreams about him and wake up crying and when I think about him, it makes me emotional, like right now. Only just a few days ago, I told my parents what the vet said and they said "She just meant she would have been more upset if it was her" and I said I know, but it felt like she was also saying that I didn't care much about my cat and my Mum said "if she meant it like that, she wouldn't have that job, she would get fired." I'm still not sure though because I've had people bully me straight to my face several times and my parents couldn't even tell they were bullying me or when they could, they would just make excuses for the person and laugh it off. Also, the vet didn't think I would be able to hear her.

Sibling estrangement

replies: 1

My sister will often hurt me by cutting off contact with me for months at a time. When she does answer my calls she says I have done nothing, get over it and move on. I am left bewildered, sad and so miserable. I never know what has caused her to be ... View more

My sister will often hurt me by cutting off contact with me for months at a time. When she does answer my calls she says I have done nothing, get over it and move on. I am left bewildered, sad and so miserable. I never know what has caused her to be like this toward me. Just now she has cut off contact with me for twelve months. She won't answer the phone and returned an unopened birthday present to me. Please, can anyone help me. I am 69 and my sister is seven years older. She has a husband who spends his time in another part of the house and she has no friends to speak of. Thank you

Shouldn’t have died in iso

replies: 2

My Dad died of cancer in late 2021. Dad should have died surrounded by people who love him but sadly he died alone in a COVID isolation hospital ward.He died alone because of extreme/illogical COVID rules that prevented his loved ones being with him.... View more

My Dad died of cancer in late 2021. Dad should have died surrounded by people who love him but sadly he died alone in a COVID isolation hospital ward.He died alone because of extreme/illogical COVID rules that prevented his loved ones being with him. And because I wasn’t smart enough to preempt an extra COVID test I should have done. And because of useless ScoMo not achieving a faster vaccine roll out. And because of all the selfish people who didnt get vaccinated earlier. Like anyone who looses a loved one I miss him so, so much. But he was 77 so I can reconcile he had a reasonably long life. Not long enough, sadly there’s so much he’s missed just in the last 7 months, but at least 77 is not 40 or 20 or 10.What I can’t come to terms with is his lonely end. And knowing it was partly my fault… to explain in brief… I live interstate and had an end of life permit to visit him via hotel quarantine, but it turned out that because I visited him, when he got critically sick at the end, they put him in an iso ward. Then said he couldn’t have visitors until I returned one more negative COVID test (I’d already had 10 negative tests over 2 weeks but they wanted another). My negative result came in 20 hours later and 10mins after he died. In retrospect I could and should have anticipated that extra test may have been requested. And in retrospect, when I was told it was required, I firmly believe if I’d been quicker with my thoughts/words I could have negotiated an exception. But I didn’t. And he died alone. He deserved better from me.I feel so guilty and regretful that I didn’t do better for him. And im also angry and disgusted with ScoMo (‘it’s not a race’) and those who were so selfishly slow to get vaccinated. If our vaccination roll out had happened at a reasonable pace there would not have been interstate travel iso rules at that time. I know others have suffered more than Dad and my family in relation to COVID iso rules, it’s been so tough for so many. One day the real cost of COVID will be realised, not only the death rate and the financial costs, but the far reaching mental heath impacts of isolation. For my part, I just can’t seem to stop being upset and angry about what happened to Dad.

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Welcome to the Grief and Loss section

replies: 27

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