The family of Angela Jeffrey, who went missing a year ago and has not yet been found, has taken her disappearance very hard.
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Husband David Jeffrey said he takes each day one at a time and puts one step in front of the other to get through.
“The biggest thing is to learn how to deal with it,” he said, when reflecting on the past 12 months without Angela, his wife and companion of 36 years.
“There’s not one day that I don’t think about it,” he said. Mrs Jeffrey suffered from bipolar disorder and was under medical treatment for the condition.
On June 1 2016, she drove her car to the Narawntapu National Park car park at Bakers Beach and disappeared. Despite a massive search for her over two months, she has not yet been found.
“What makes it worse was that we had everything in place with medication, psychologists, psychiatrists, because of the length of time she’d had bipolar, and it wasn’t enough,” said Mr Jeffrey.
He paid tribute to his work colleagues, whom he said had been incredible. He also had advice drawn from his experience, for people who knew someone who was depressed.
“Just know that you can’t solve the problem most of the time. But if you can listen, eventually things will be said. It will just come into the conversation.
“At any time even in the middle of the night - let them know that you will be there to listen. Sometimes when they can’t sleep and they want to talk because everything’s going round in their mind - let them know you will be there and they have a shoulder to lean on.”
Mr Jeffrey said a lot of people skirt around the issue when people are depressed or bipolar.
“They fear that what they say is going to be wrong or hurtful. So they say nothing.” But he said staying silent just made it worse for the person with the illness. “Ask if they’re okay,” he said.
“If this can help one family from losing a loved one that would be great,” he said.
If you or anyone you know is depressed, contact Lifeline at 13 11 14 (24 hour service) or www.lifeline.org.au.
Leah McBey
As a southern New Zealander I love island life. So Tassie was an obvious choice after living in North America, Europe and the Pacific Islands. I've done a bit of everything but communication is the motif threading through my life.
As a southern New Zealander I love island life. So Tassie was an obvious choice after living in North America, Europe and the Pacific Islands. I've done a bit of everything but communication is the motif threading through my life.
