Content Warning: This episode contains discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling, please call or text 988.
After walking alongside her son through his battle with addiction and then losing him to suicide at 24, Ann Marie Farino knows the depths of grief and heartbreak. But she also knows that even after devastating loss, it is possible to find joy, purpose and a reason to keep moving forward.
Farino is a mother, speaker and writer whose new book, Chronic Chaos: A Son’s Addiction, a Mother’s Love, and Her Quest to Find Joy, chronicles her son’s journey through addiction and mental illness, from wilderness therapy programs and boarding schools to the day the FBI attempted to recruit her teenage son as an informant.
In this episode of Grieving Out Loud, Farino shares her deeply personal story, what she has learned through her journey and what she wants others to know about finding hope and living a full life after loss.
Learn more about Ann and purchase her book on her website here.
Related Episodes:
- Author Peggy Green on surviving your child’s suicide
- When Words Are All That’s Left After Suicide
- Broken Heart Syndrome: 4 Ways We Grieve
MEET THE GUEST
Ann Marie Farino
Ann Marie Farino is a speaker, philanthropist, and advocate who lost her eldest son Richard to suicide in 2016 after years of mental health and substance use disorder struggles. Rather than let that loss define her, she built a second calling helping other families find their way back to hope and joy after profound grief. She works with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s Speaker Program presenting “Talk Saves Lives” to community audiences, and has spoken publicly about addiction, suicide, and grief alongside her philanthropic work supporting organizations across the Chicago area.
