“Siblings, they kind of straddle this space between, you know, they’re family, but they’re also friends, or maybe they’re kind of frenemies,” said Stephanie Harrington. “It’s one of the early formative relationships you have in your life, and it’s a defining relationship in many ways.”
Harrington’s brother Ian died in May 2020 from drug poisoning. Now, she’s co-facilitating a support group for people in Victoria who have lost siblings as a result of substance use related harms.
Harrington says that there are factors unique to sibling relationships when it comes to substance use.
“For me, personally, I was a support for my brother while he struggled with substance use, and, you know, he would tell me things and that he wouldn’t tell my parents, for example, and it put me in very awkward situations,” she said. “A lot of times, I had to make a choice between, am I going to keep my parents in the loop about my brother’s substance use? Or am I going to be that point person for him so that he knows he can trust me and reach out to me when he needs that help or that support?”
“And it was a really difficult choice. And, after he died, you know, I had to talk to my parents about the fact that, I knew a lot more about what was going on in his life than they did. And they were very understanding about it, but I feel like that might not be the same case for a lot of other siblings. And I think having a sibling specific group allows siblings to talk about their loved one who has died in a very open, non judgmental way in which they don’t have to worry about hurting their parents.”
Harrington and co-facilitator Amanda Farrell-Low joined People First Radio to remember their brothers Ian and Liam, and to speak about the new group.
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