If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts or mental health matters, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 to connect with a trained counselor or visit the NSPL site.
Lisa Marie Presley is sharing her experience with grief.
In a new essay for “National Grief Awareness Day” on Tuesday, Presley opens up about the loss of her son, Benjamin Keough, 27, who died by suicide in 2020.
“My and my three daughters’ lives as we knew it were completely detonated and destroyed by his death. We live in this every. Single. Day,” she writes. “Grief is something you will have to carry with you for the rest of your life, in spite of what certain people or our culture wants us to believe. You do not ‘get over it,’ you do not ‘move on,’ period.”
Presley describes grief as “incredibly lonely,” writing that only “a handful” of people typically stay in contact to offer ongoing support to a friend or family member who has experienced a difficult loss.
“Unfortunately, that is a cold hard truth for most. So, if you know someone who lost a loved one, regardless of how long it’s been, please call them to see how they are doing. Go visit them. They will really really appreciate it, more than you know,” she writes.
Presley says she has found comfort in the company of people who have faced similar tragedy.
How to get help
“Support groups that have your specific kind of loss in common. I go to them, and I hold them for other bereaved parents at my home,” Presley writes. “Nothing, absolutely NOTHING takes away the pain, but finding support can sometimes help you feel a little bit less alone.”
Presley says her daughters keep her going.
“I keep going for my girls,” Presley writes. “I keep going because my son made it very clear in his final moments that taking care of his little sisters and looking out for them were on the forefront of his concerns and his mind. He absolutely adored them and they him.”
