Christopher's story: 'My experience of using a bereavement helpline came about when three of my closest friends died in quick succession.'

My experience of using a bereavement helpline came about when three of my closest friends died in quick succession. The first, coincidentally, was a helpline volunteer and worked with Gemma from Helplines Partnership.

Basically, I did not deal with each of the losses, and now looking back, I kind of went into shutdown as it was just too much to process at once. I put on a brave face and focused on work, pretending I was fine. One day I cracked, but because I’d put on the brave face throughout, felt I couldn’t turn to friends or family. Using the helpline worked for me at the time as it was a stranger I was sharing with. It ultimately helped me face the loss of each of my friends and learn how to grieve them separately. Once I had started to talk about it, the pressure started to ease, and I was able to share how I hadn’t actually been coping properly with it with those around me.