Cathy Rentzenbrink is a bestselling author, former editor at The Bookseller magazine and head of Quick Reads – short books to encourage adults who may not be readers. Because as Cathy believes: ‘After the wheel, the book must be one of the great inventions' since books are ‘a life raft’ - something Cathy has needed, more than once.

 

When she was 17, her younger brother was hit by a car. After the accident, he was in a so-called permanent vegetative state and the family had to endure eight years before they could have a funeral and fully grieve.

 

In this episode, Cathy talks to Helen about:

• Growing up with grief


• Sibling survivors


• The experience of panic attacks, anxiety and depression


• How therapy and EMDR can help


• Divorce and doing things differently in relationships


• Parenting and how to do it (neither of us have quite figured this out yet)


• Keeping going


• Practical advice for sad times


• …and ways to make life meaningful.

 

Trigger: bereavement, assisted dying

 

Find out more about Cathy’s work at https://cathyreadsbooks.com/ and follow Cathy on Twitter and Instagram @CatRentzenbrink or Facebook. Cathy’s debut novel, Everyone Is Still Alive, is out in July.

Follow Helen on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook @MsHelenRussell
Read more about Helen’s new book, How To Be Sad at Waterstones, Amazon or Apple.
Get in touch with the show at howtobesadpodcast@gmail.com
Thanks to Joel Grove for production and to Matt Clacher at HarperCollins for making this podcast happen.