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Starferry
05-03-2015, 08:41 AM
Hi


I really don't feel right, feel so lost.

I don't really know where to start....my mum has been ill for as long as I can remember. I didn't have a great childhood as she was very controlling. My sister and I were bother looked after as such, we were healthy, dressed well, fed etc. but emotionally there was nothing there. I don't ever recall my mum telling me she loved me or showing me much affection. My dad is not much better but that's another story.

We moved from Europe to Canada when I was 12 and things got a lot worse. My mum ended up and anti depressants and anti anxiety tablets etc. My sister moved out the first chance she had as living at home was an emotional battle. I followed suit and met a wonderful man online ( not romantically) and when I backpacked through England we met up and at 19 we got married! I moved away from Canada back to Europe. This was 15 years ago and I'm still with my wonderful husban And we have a gorgeous daughter who is 8.

My mum never objected to me leaving, I didn't even have a pep talk when I told her I was getting married , I think she was happy to be rid of the responsibility of having children. Dad was just oblivious.

Anyway, she started attempting to take her life around 2006 and each time this was blamed on someone, my dad, my grandma, my sister :( and eventually me. She was mad when I said I wouldn't visit with my daughter and that I would be coming to see her on my own. She took pills and tried cutting her wrists. Wrote me a nasty email.

This was in 2009. I came to Canada anyways as I already had my ticket, we didn't speak for months before I flew over. She didn't really want to see me when I was there. I only saw her a couple of times and she was drugged up and ignored me. This was awful. That same year she was diagnosed as having BPD ( borderline personality disorder)

About 6 months later she emailed me to apologise and said she wanted to make peace so she flew over to England and we locked ourselves in a hotel room for 2 days. For the first time I saw her and we were honest with eachother. I wasn't afraid to tell her how much she hurt me. She was also honest about a lot of things with me. I call this a glimpse ...a glimpse of what having a mum is actually like. I felt loved and happy. This did not last, she attempted suicide again about 6 months later.

I got an email from her saying she loves me and she is sorry. When I got this I thought she was dead , I called my sister who said that she also got same message but she managed to get someone home to save my mum.

Lots of therapy for her, lots of talking later we were back in good place again, though I had lost my trust and knew she would attempt again.

I decided to take my husband and daughter to Canada this past summer, we planned this for a year in advance, we had an amazing trip planned including a visit to the states. We were there for 3 weeks. Most good, mum spoiled my daughter, she even threw a party for us at her house and invited loads of family and friends, My dad was great too. Towards the end of the holiday the mood changed, we went to the Rocky Mountains for the last 3 days before we flew home and she barely spoke to us. She was actually very cold and withdrawn, even mean at times. Every evening my dad would come to our cabin and she stayed in her own. They dropped us off at the airport and I got a cold hug and a see you later from my mum.

We got home on Monday afternoon, early Wednesday morning I got a call from my sister to say that it was finally over. My mum had succeeded and she took a whole bunch of pills, drank a bottle of vodka and then hung herself in the bathroom. Same bathroom we were using when we were there.

I was in complete shock, still jet lagged and numb. I flew back to Canada on the Friday and funeral was Sunday. It was a bit of a saving grace that there was no criminal investigation. It was very clear she had commited suicide. She had cleared her laptop history and the last two entries in the search engine were Robin Williams suicide ( he killed himself just weeks before she did - guess he ispired her) and how to send a delayed email. I assume the latter was meant for me but I never got an email. My sister and dad got a letter.

I can't believe I just wrote all that.

Anyway, I came back home the day after the funeral. I haven't really slept for a week, I had double jet lag. I forgot to mention that we got a puppy on the Tuesday as we got back from Canada ( something we had planned and funnily enough the last text message from my mum was ' aww, pup is cute'---- hours later she killed herself. )
So back from funeral, jet lagged, numb, trying to stay strong for my daughter, trying to train a new puppy. Getting ready for daughter going to junior school..I kind of went into auto pilot, I went back to work a week later. I kind of got on with things...until November, I had a complete meltdown when I was at a concert. I had my first anxiety attack. I felt awful. I just wanted to be on my own. I felt like I was going to faint. I ended up feeling this way when I was around people and in closed areas...i couldn't been go into a shop without feeling anxious.
I ended up phoning in sick to work and had to be signed off for 6 weeks. Something I hated doing...Im not usually one to be off sick at work.

I saw a therapist through work EAP service and he was great and really helped me. I only had 6 sessions as that's all work provide. I didn't / don't want long term therapy. I just don't think therapy is for me. I find it hard to open up and a lot of my past is blurry. The sessions I had helped with my anxiety at that time.

Its been 4 months since I last saw him and I'm really low. I feel so down all the time. I'm making mistakes at work which is so out of character, I actually want to change jobs now. Really can't cope with my current role. I have gained about 20 pounds. I feel annoyed with myself and on a short fuse. I really don't want to go on anti depressants and I'm considering natural remedies like St johns wort. I'm scared of mental illness. I know there is something wrong with me. I know I need help. I need to sort my life out as have so many things to be happy about.

If anyone reads this..thank you and I appreciate your time. I hope being a part of this community will help me,

gypsylee
05-03-2015, 09:26 AM
Hi and welcome. Thanks for sharing your story :)

I can kind of understand how you feel because my mother has always been similar to how you describe yours. She's never harmed herself or even been on anti-depressants but she's emotionally distant, aggressive and extremely neurotic. Now she's in her 70s she's deteriorating physically and is suicidal a lot. My brother died last year suddenly, so it's just me dealing with it (she isolates herself from everyone else). During the last week she got worse and I had to call an ambulance and get her into hospital, which is where she is right now. Well by the end of it I was so emotionally exhausted I felt really depressed. The anxiety was bad while I was dealing with it, but then it just turned into depression. I feel a little better after having her in hospital for a couple of days and having some time to recover, but the emotional strain of these situations is just massive. So it's totally understandable you are feeling down.

I'm not sure what to suggest at the moment but I hope, as you say, talking to us here will help.

All the best to you,
Gypsy x

P.S. Can I ask where abouts in Europe you came from?

Kuma
05-03-2015, 10:29 AM
You wrote that therapy is not for you. But I would not write off therapy. You have been through a lot of stuff and therapy might help you sort through it a bit. Therapy can be difficult. Avoidance or repression is easier. But in the long term, you (and your family) will probably be better off if you face what you have been through and sort out your feelings about it. And that is hard to do on your own, because we all lack perspective and objectivity when it comes to ourselves and our experiences. I don't think you necessarily need to spend years in therapy, but some help sorting through things could be well worthwhile.

[As an side, I'm Suffering says -- in a post that he subsequently deleted -- that he is a medium. I am a large. But I am not sure why our sizes matter.]

gypsylee
05-03-2015, 11:04 AM
[As an side, I'm Suffering says he is a medium. I am a large. But I am not sure why our sizes matter.]

I'm a small. That's why they call me Little Gypsy ;)

sae
05-03-2015, 11:17 AM
Without getting into a long story I will abbreviate my relation to this as such: me+Husband's suicide= a real mess.
I agree with Kuma in not giving up on therapy. You just might not be quite there yet. For me it took actually wanting to accept he was gone before therapy did me any real good.
Grief is a pisser, it seems to take forever. Paired with the inevitable guilt a suicide brings (if only I had tried harder, if only I had been right there at that moment, maybe it wouldn't have happened) it's a long process.
It was through counselling I learned how to reconcile with my guilt and accept his being gone. Having someone to talk to helps too.
I'm still not completely over it all and I am 3 years out. It takes time. Let yourself go through the motions. That's been the current challenge for me. Give yourself time. No one usually walks away from this sort of thing unscathed. And be sure to remind yourself often that none of this is your fault. It isn't, I promise.
It only gets easier from here. With each day that passes more healing comes. If you ever want someone to talk it out with feel free to pm me. :)

P.s. I'm an xl... sometimes a 2x depending on the fit. Fat girls represent.

Starferry
05-03-2015, 03:11 PM
Thank you all for your kind responses. I know therapy can't be ruled out. I may ask to go on a waiting list through my GP. I can't afford to go privately , especially as I'm thinking of changing jobs and will most likely have to take a pay cut.

I'm Suffering : I did see your response before it was removed and I must say it made me cry. I never thought of the pup being a new life....also I really appreciated your kind comments so thank you so much .

Sae: I'm so sorry to hear about your husband. I may just take you up on the PM. Just posting here today has helped me a bit . Thank you for your suggestions too

Gypsylee: I'm really sorry to hear about your brother. Thank you for sharing your story about your mum too. It really is difficult seeing a parent suffer so much with mental illness. My mum attempted suicide 7 times before she was successful. It's been a difficult 9 years with an ending we all predicted but hoped would never happen. At least my mum is no longer suffering with the pain of life.
I grew up in Poland

Kuma
05-03-2015, 04:07 PM
I grew up in Poland

You should "meet" Dahila on this forum, also from Poland. Maybe some posts will appear on this board that the rest of us won't understand!

gypsylee
05-03-2015, 10:10 PM
Thank you all for your kind responses. I know therapy can't be ruled out. I may ask to go on a waiting list through my GP. I can't afford to go privately , especially as I'm thinking of changing jobs and will most likely have to take a pay cut.

I'm Suffering : I did see your response before it was removed and I must say it made me cry. I never thought of the pup being a new life....also I really appreciated your kind comments so thank you so much .

Sae: I'm so sorry to hear about your husband. I may just take you up on the PM. Just posting here today has helped me a bit . Thank you for your suggestions too

Gypsylee: I'm really sorry to hear about your brother. Thank you for sharing your story about your mum too. It really is difficult seeing a parent suffer so much with mental illness. My mum attempted suicide 7 times before she was successful. It's been a difficult 9 years with an ending we all predicted but hoped would never happen. At least my mum is no longer suffering with the pain of life.
I grew up in Poland

The frustrating thing with my mother is she's never seen herself as having a mental illness. Anti-depressants helped me and my brother a lot so we said to mum she should try them and she just refused and said she's too old for that sort of thing. That was like 15 years ago! Now she's truly suicidal and if anyone says she's depressed she says it isn't depression it's just "realistic". So you know, my brother and I both suffered/suffer anxiety and depression but mum is just realistic *rolls eyes*.

Im-Suffering
05-04-2015, 07:05 AM
Thank you all for your kind responses. I know therapy can't be ruled out. I may ask to go on a waiting list through my GP. I can't afford to go privately , especially as I'm thinking of changing jobs and will most likely have to take a pay cut.

I'm Suffering : I did see your response before it was removed and I must say it made me cry. I never thought of the pup being a new life....also I really appreciated your kind comments so thank you so much .

Sae: I'm so sorry to hear about your husband. I may just take you up on the PM. Just posting here today has helped me a bit . Thank you for your suggestions too

Gypsylee: I'm really sorry to hear about your brother. Thank you for sharing your story about your mum too. It really is difficult seeing a parent suffer so much with mental illness. My mum attempted suicide 7 times before she was successful. It's been a difficult 9 years with an ending we all predicted but hoped would never happen. At least my mum is no longer suffering with the pain of life.
I grew up in Poland

She wants you to know, everything will be ok ! Let yourself feel, all of it. Suppress nothing, validate everything ! Feel, release, heal.

With love, she wants you to live your life, and find the joy in it - which was/is (has been) all around you - all along. Especially now, to know she is ok too, and thinking of you. She is sorry for the effect her decisions had on you. This is a weight for her (suicide does not heal any wounds), but can be lifted as you find yourself, and love, for your own life. In this way, you both can begin to heal. It is still in a very real sense, a cooperative venture.

It's OK to let it go. To keep in your heart what was wonderful, she says, and to release any pain into her arms now, do this mentally, using your imagination. That is the space to connect.

Whenever you need her, you see. All-ways.