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Writer's pictureOvercomer's Podcast

S8: Episode 1 - Brittany Cooley | Overcoming Tragedy of a loved one with Mental Illness and more...



This week on the Overcomer’s Podcast we are talking with Brittany Cooley. She is a free-spirited, over-sharer, who is hellbent on sharing her message of strength and hope across the globe. She has dedicated her life to being one of the powerful faces of mental health awareness and suicide prevention after her own serious suicide attempt in 2012. Brittany’s suicide attempt was the climax of a decade of trauma including homelessness, hunger, sexual abuse, and loss in her youth. Today, Brittany shares her story of tragedy to triumph as a powerful example of using the struggles she has faced to strengthen her tenacious spirit.


She is going to share what it means of being a survivor of suicide, to have a loved one suffer from mental illness. She’s a true overcomer and she has a book called Strength Personified. It’s a personal story from tragedy to triumph. And another book, a series from her first book, it’s a personal story from heartache to healing.


She would say that her life is like a lifetime movie to tell. She always starts to tell her story from her mother who was a very successful woman in early 90s, divorced in ‘95 and was very independent. In fact became executive director of a non-profit organization. Travelled and spoke all over the country. People who knew Brittany's mom back then, have very fond memories about her. But the thing is she was not practicing self-care, and was overwhelmed and kind of all caught up to her then she had a nervous breakdown in ‘97.


Brittany had experienced a life of well off as a child to living in the street as a teenager and she still thinks that her mom was still the best she could be for her at the time, and was sold for sexual purposes yet in that time she didn’t even knew what it really was but endured just to have food in her mouth and her mother’s.

She’s already having suicidal thoughts even executed self-harm such as cutting arms and legs, just to feel something other than disgust and worthlessness. She explained that emotional pain is so much worse than physical pain. And she wrote about it then her mother saw her writings and she did not expect what her mother did, her mother said “If you want to die then I will kill you right now.” then tried to strangle her. That very moment she decided it’s enough and had to do something. Wrote a letter and was in foster care for 2 months and was sent back to her dad.

She gained her life back, graduated on time and never told anyone about what happened to her because she was ashamed and just want to feel and live a normal life with friends.

In 2008 she got a phone call that her mother passed away because of internal haemorrhage and never got any medical attention. And she blamed herself for what happened.

Listen to this episode of the Overcomer’s Podcast to learn more about Brittany and her Personal Story of Tragedy to Triumph. If you wish to connect with Brittany, find her on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/thebrittanycooley/?hl=en, or Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/brittcool/

For more of the Overcomer’s Podcast, check out our website at overcomers-podcast.com or listen to all of our podcasts on iTunes, Spotify or Google Podcasts.


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