Home › Forums › Loss of a loved one › I lost my brother to drug abuse and poor mental health › Reply To: I lost my brother to drug abuse and poor mental health
Dear @sharna, I’m so sorry to hear about this massive loss that you are going through, it must be incredibly hard to have lost your brother and incredibly difficult witnessing his struggle in the time before his death. Thank you so much for reaching out and speaking courageously about what you are going through and the emotions that you are feeling. Not only have you lost a close family member but have also had to witness that family member experience drug overdose, mental illness, and suicide which is incredibly hard and you must be extremely strong. It is sounding like an incredibly difficult thing to process especially when you discuss having to numb yourself to protect your mental illness, which is completely normal and fair considering what you have been through. Although, it is important to process what you are experiencing in knowing that you are not alone, and so, Griefline Helplines are available to call 8 am-8 pm AEST at 1300 845 745.
I have also attached a link on how to cope with Grief which may be beneficial to have a read of: https://griefline.org.au/resources/understanding-the-symptoms-of-grief/
I encourage you to keep posting on the online forum as it can be a great avenue for support through this hard time. Please know that you are not alone in this and thank you so much for providing support to others in letting them know that they are not alone.