this talk: is about grief & bereavement as a young person - with Amber Jeffrey
My name is Amber Jeffrey and I am the creator and founder of The Grief Gang Instagram page and podcast. The birth of TGG came 3 years after the loss of my own mum to a heart attack in 2016.
From the day she died, to the summer of 2019, I had just plodded along. I kept my grief at bay and only let it out on those significant dates such as her birthday, Christmas or anniversaries. My mental health up until that point, I thought, had been ok, but during the summer of 2019 is when the slippery slope began.
Back then, I had prided myself on being someone who things like depression and anxiety didn't touch. In a weird and very toxic way, I felt proud that I hadn't let myself go to those dark places. Strange, I know. So when these dark, intrusive and suicidal thoughts came into my mind, I was baffled. I knew this wasn't okay and that I needed to seek help as soon as possible.
With that, I went down the route of therapy. I searched via the NHS, but the waitlist was far too long. I needed help and I needed it now. Sounds bratty to some, but I simply didn't know what I would do to myself within a 6 week time period. I looked to go private, too expensive. I finally landed on going virtual, my last resort. All in all, it didn't work for me. There's a whole story to that one.
Upon this, I thought "That really can't be it? is it?” in terms of support for those young and bereaved. It really bothered me.
I went on holiday with this still floating around in my head. Now, I love a podcast anyway, it's one of my favourite pastimes, so I threw in the search bar "grief' and a bunch of podcast's came up. I listened and thought they were all great, but I wasn't hearing a young person's voice. Someone who is in the midst of their youth speaking about what it is like to be young and bereaved. Then lightbulb moment, start your own Amber.
The rest is really history! I went on to create the page and podcast and it's grown and grown into this phenomenal community that I would be lost without. I have had the honour of meeting guests from all over the country and have them share their stories on the show as well as connect with thousands of people online. It's a wonderful community full of love and support. There is a page, podcast, and service for everyone and their type of loss. The online grief community is growing by the day and I love to see it. We don't want to suffer in silence, we want to talk, we want to share, we want to educate, we want to tell the world their name.
You can find Amber, co-founder of The Grief Safe Space on:
Instagram
You can listen to The Grief Gang Podcast on:
Spotify
Apple
Google