Of Memories and Metamorphosis: Butterflies, Hummingbirds, & Sibling Loss to Suicide: Sasha / Amy

02/15/23 • 39 min

The Broken Pack™: Stories of Adult Sibling Loss

A Surviving Sibling's Sibling Loss Story of Devastation, Continuing Bonds, and Navigating Her Roles after Suicide Loss
Sasha openly discusses her sibling loss story of losing her sister, Amy, to suicide in July 2021. my was a kind, caring, loving sister. When Sasha lost Amy, her identity changed, as it does for many siblings. Learning to navigate her place in the family and to wrestle with many mixed emotions related to Amy's death have been understandably part of her grieving process.

Sasha emphasizes the profound impact of such a loss.
She highlights the unique bond she shared with her sister and the subsequent feelings of grief, guilt, and longing.
Sasha also shares how she copes with her loss through connecting with nature, finding comfort in small moments, and seeking support from those who understand her pain.

Content Warning: Information presented in this episode may be upsetting to some people. It contains talk of suicide and suicidal ideation.
If you are in the US and need support for yourself or someone else with suicidal thoughts or other topics discussed in this episode, please call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) or Text your 5-digit ZIP Code to 435748 (HELP4U) or call a warmline. For more immediate crisis call 911, 988, or go to the nearest emergency room.
In the USA, an updated directory of warmlines by state can be found at https://warmline.org/warmdir.html
A warmline directory for trained peer supports in over 20 countries can be found at https://www.supportiv.com/tools/international-resources-crisis-and-warmlines . (Some of those may be hotlines.)

Support the show

If you would like more information or to share your own adult sibling loss story, please contact me, Dr. Angela Dean, at [email protected] or go to our website, thebrokenpack.com.
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Thank you!
Angela M. Dean, PsyD, FT
Credits:
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"If Tomorrow Starts Without Me" © ℗ 2023, 2024
Written by Joe Mylward and Brian Dean
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Sasha emphasizes the profound impact of such a loss.
She highlights the unique bond she shared with her sister and the subsequent feelings of grief, guilt, and longing.
Sasha also shares how she copes with her loss through connecting with nature, finding comfort in small moments, and seeking support from those who understand her pain.

Support the show

Previous Episode

Surviving Sibling Loss of a Special Needs Sister and Surviving Changing Family Dynamics: Becky / Aly

Surviving Sibling Loss of a Special Needs Sister and Surviving Changing Family Dynamics

Dr. Angela Dean talks with fellow sibling loss survivor, physician, Dr. Becky Von Handorf, about the loss of her sister to a rare genetic condition.

Dr. Von Handorf, a pediatric medical resident, discusses the loss of her sister, Aly, who had a rare genetic disorder, Sanfilippo Disorder. Becky shares about what her relationship was like growing up with a sister with a terminal illness, her grief, the influence on her career choice, family dynamics, and meaning and purpose.

Dr. Van Handorf shares her experience of disenfranchised grief and the challenges of navigating the loss of a sibling with special needs.
She describes the challenges of having her grief discounted due to her sister’s special needs.
The anticipation of her sister’s death was a heavy for Dr. Van Handorf. She felt like she was “just sitting there and just like waiting for her to go."

Support the show

Next Episode

Transformation After Losing a Sister to Cancer: Jenn / Melissa

Navigating the Devastating Sibling Loss of a Sister to Cancer: A Journey of Transformation in Grief

Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Certified Grief Educator and bereaved surviving sibling, Jenn, shares her story of her love and grief for her sister Melissa, her best friend, from an extremely rare form of cancer.

Jenn’s grief was profound and all-consuming. She withdrew from her loved ones and lost all hope for the future.
She shares how she has begun to find ways to live with her grief including how her work has changed.
Jenn describes that after Melissa died, her ability to experience joy was muted.

Additional key points:

Jenn highlights that finding support for adult sibling loss is challenging due to the lack of resources and understanding of the unique grief associated with losing a sibling.
Together, Dr. Dean and Jenn explore and emphasize that grief including disenfranchised grief like sibling loss, is not something that is broken or needs to be fixed.

Jenn's work can be found at:
website & newsletter: https://www.jennoglesbee.com
Instagram: jennoglesbee

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The Broken Pack™: Stories of Adult Sibling Loss - Of Memories and Metamorphosis: Butterflies, Hummingbirds, & Sibling Loss to Suicide: Sasha / Amy

Transcript

Dr. Dean00:00:25.289

Content warning information presented in today's episode may be triggering to some people. It contains talk of suicide Resources are located in the show notes. In today's episode, I spoke with Sasha regarding the death of her sister, Amy, to suicide. She shares with me many things, including her current connection to her sister and how that relationship after death has been, as well as things that she wishes people would ask survivors of both suic