Read Jodie's story

“I’m Jodie, I’m autistic and have a mild learning disability."

“I sadly lost my mum and brother within two years of each other, and I was overwhelmed with grief. My brother didn’t cope very well with the loss of our mum and after his death I blamed myself for not doing more to help him."

“Everyone around me including family, friends, and colleagues tried to comfort me and would keep telling me that it wasn’t my fault, but I didn’t believe them. I then started to feel suicidal and even told a co-worker that I was thinking of taking my own life. My colleague was determined to help me and became a continuous support for me during this time."

“I knew that I needed professional help to manage my grief and was referred for counselling through my doctors. I had previously tried therapy through the learning disability team, but I didn’t find that this was very beneficial for me at the time. However, counselling really helped me to manage my emotions and help me find my way back to myself again."

“I started to watch YouTube videos and came across a quote that summed up how I was feeling. I spoke about this during one of my counselling sessions and found it to be quite freeing now that I had my feelings put into words."

“I am forever grateful to my family, friends, colleagues, and counsellor for their continued support, without them I don’t know where I would be today. The grief is something that I carry with me every day, but I feel it a lot more on certain dates such as their birthdays. My colleague told me that on the days I miss them most to burn a candle in their memory. So, on these days I burn the candle and imagine that they are the flame shining bright in front of me, just like their memories will live on brightly in me.”