Our Impact

Micheal had a close bond with his brother, Jack, all through their life, with only 18 months between them. They shared a whole lifetime of memories together, treated each other as confidants and ‘had each other’s back.’ Micheal felt that they understood each other and there was a strong bond with an intimate trust.  

Jack was an intelligent self-starter, an architect with his own construction company and had a passion for the arts and playing guitar. Micheal shared that Jack had experienced anxieties all his life and later found that he was diagnosed with severe depression. 

In July 2023, Jack had a row with his wife and left the house without his phone or wallet. When he hadn’t returned, Jack’s family alerted the police and the next day discovered that Jack had driven to a country lane and take his own life.  

Instantly, Micheal’s world turned into a dark place. Micheal reports feeling consumed and tormented by guilt and the ‘what ifs’ left by so many unanswered questions. He described his grief as ‘grief on steroids’, where nothing felt real and his whole world had been blown apart.  

As Micheal celebrated his recent 48th birthday, the same age as Jack had been. He yearned for the usual message from his brother and the absence of it made his special day feel empty. He found himself scrolling back to last year’s text to fill a very prolific void in his life.  

Days after his brothers passing, Micheal reached out to our Bereavement Support Service. He recalls his initial conversation with his Bereavement officer as a moment that offered understanding, reassurance and comfort about his emotions when everyone else ran away, not knowing what to say and other services had red tape to cut through that Micheal simply couldn’t deal with.  

He built a relationship with his bereavement officer that still continues to this day and that ‘there are not many people who will stand with you in the dark, but the immediacy of the service is beyond the offer of any other, and the accessibility and quality is exceptional. ‘  

Micheal urges anyone struggling with the aftermath of a suicide loss to get in touch with our service, ‘You are not alone and there are people who can help you to navigate this horrific trauma and make your life more bearable.’  

Elisa’s daughter, Lily, was a vibrant and popular individual at school and followed a common path – she undertook her A’ levels and commenced her degree. She loved life. Towards the end of her course, she started to feel unwell and decided to leave. Her mum supported her decision because she wanted whatever was best for her daughter. They had what her mum described as “a beautiful, close and loving relationship.” 

After leaving university, Lily had a few causal jobs and went to visit a friend in Australia. Lily returned home after a family bereavement, and this is when Elisa noticed a change in her behaviour. She became paranoid, frequently turning off mobile phones and internet connections out of fear that someone was spying on her and her mum and wanted to harm them. By July 2018, Lily had developed full-blown Psychosis and she stopped eating and sleeping.  

Lily was able to manage her symptoms with anti-psychotic drugs and Elisa said it was as though she fully recovered. Lily began working as a care assistant and was dedicated to working to help others. Unfortunately, during the pandemic, Lily stopped taking her medication and found herself relapsing back into psychosis. Due to the time lapse between episodes, Lily was now ‘out of the system’ and was unable to access the care that she needed in a timely way. At this point Lily was very vulnerable, struggling with an extremely low mood and just wanted to feel safe. She said to her mum one day” I just want you to live your own life, I don’t want to be a burden.” Lily ordered the kit that she needed and died by suicide in the family house in 2021. 

When the Suicide Bereavement Officer from BWW Mind reached out, Elisa was in a very fragile state, crippled by the pain of Lily’s death. Weekly support from her Officer made her feel ‘safe in an uncertain world’ and that she realized someone was on her side, “someone looking out for me at a time when an atomic bomb has gone off and it’s there for life.”  

She joined the BWW Mind peer support group, where she met others who had experienced a death by suicide as well as people who have tried to take their own lives. Talking and listening to others helped Elisa so much and provided her with hope for a different life. 

Today, Elisa channels her resilience into aiding others and contributing to NHS guidelines on suicide language and prevention. Her journey, though ongoing, is marked by quiet confidence and a profound understanding of the impact of timely intervention. 

Whilst Elisa is still piecing together Lily’s journey, she is quietly confident that she could have prevented her death if she’d known what she does now. Elisa stated, without the support she received from the BWW Mind Suicide Bereavement service, she would not be here today.