Charlie Swenson, MD and Nicoleta Helén - To Hell and Back: Life Survival Skills

In June of 2018, eight months following the death of her two-year-old son to the Syndrome of Unexplained Death of a Child (SUDC), Natalia Garcia joined this podcast for three episodes to describe the catastrophic loss and the ensuing grief process marked by her courage and skill in facing her vulnerabilities. Now, five years since the loss, she returns to the podcast to talk about the longer arc of the process of grieving her son and things that have happened since then. As before, this is a moving and inspiring story of courage that deals with a panoply of issues faced in any longer-term grief process.

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 In this episode, Charlie reflects on 100 episodes spent exploring human suffering. He synthesizes wisdom from interviews including coping with natural disaster, loss of a child, suicide, and cancer, arriving at seven overarching guidelines for survival.

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In the final episode of our 4 part Series on coping with Suicide in the family, we hear from Teddy’s fiancé Mariya. Mariya’s developed a personal friendship with Ross and shares about that relationship and her experience grieving his suicide. 
She also speaks about what it was like for her as someone outside the immediate family after Ross’ suicide: what it was like to be an outsider witnessing a family grapple with unspeakable loss, and how it felt to be a supportive partner to Teddy amidst her own grief. 
The interview provides a window into the breadth of relationships impacted by suicide and gives perspective into the complexity of managing grief within and outside of a family system. 

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In the 3rd of our 4 Part Series on coping with suicide in the family, we speak with Beth’s son, and Ross’ brother, Teddy. Teddy shares his perspective on growing up as an older sibling to a brother who struggled with painful emotions throughout his lifetime, on the close friendship they developed as they got older, and his inexhaustible capacity to access compassion and warmth. 
Teddy talks about being the person to find Ross after he took his life, navigating the mind-numbing administrative tasks that were required of him whilst being overwhelmed with emotion, and his instinct to surround himself with friends from the beginning to help him cope with a loss so great that, at times, it still doesn’t feel real. 

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In this episode, the third of four on how Andrea has coped with Cancer throughout 2022, her best friend Amy joins the conversation and they talk about what has happened in their friendship as a result of Cancer.  How they have dealt with Cancer has enriched their friendship and their friendship has been key in helping Andrea to reduce her suffering and preserve her love of life.  Totally sweet and inspiring!  Check out the first two in the series, podcasts #87 and #93, where you get the detailed story of how Andrea has used DBT skills, dialectics, and mindfulness to navigate the myriad challenges that Cancer brings.

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