Death of a Sibling: Overlooked Grief

Death of a Sibling: Overlooked Grief
By SUZANNE PHILLIPS, PSY.D., ABPP

It was some time after spending weeks in ICU with our youngest son, that I realized – If we had lost him, we would have also lost his brother.

In times of crisis, we too often overlook the bond between siblings and the unique but unrecognized grief suffered when a brother or sister dies.

Karen Hickman, founder of Gold Star Siblings shares that when her brother was killed serving in Vietnam, she felt like an outsider at the funeral,

“I had to grieve alone and where my parents couldn’t see me because I had to be strong for them and my younger brother.”

Author, T.J. Wray describes that the year her adult brother died she forgot how to breathe – but no one noticed. People tried to console her with comments like,

“Thank goodness, it wasn’t your husband or one of your children.”
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Overlooked Grief