Dawn French has candidly spoken about processing decades of grief and the 'blame' that followed her father's suicide when she was just 19. The 68-year-old comedian appeared on Thursday's This Morning to discuss her new book, Enough, which explores themes of ageing, suicide, and mortality.
Father's Death and Its Impact
Dawn's father took his own life in 1977 at the age of 45. Reflecting on his passing, she told presenters Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley: 'I set out to write a life-affirming book if I could about a difficult subject. My character, Etta, is 68 years old and takes her family down to the beach and explains that she won't be there at sunset, that she's had enough.' She clarified that 'enough' means having had a good life, not wanting to burden her children with her ageing.
Processing Personal Grief
Discussing her own experience, Dawn said: 'My dad had terrible depressive interludes in his life. When I was 19 I was furious, angry, confused, and full of grief. As I've grown older, I've tried to understand mentally ill health, which I do understand, then you forgive.' She emphasised the need to talk about suicide without shame or taboo, noting it was once illegal and sinful.
She added: 'Blame is everywhere around this subject. It's like, "What if, why didn't I see, what could we have done?" My mum lived with a certain amount of that as well. My dad was an incredibly engaged dad, a cheerful man, but he had these black dogs, and when they came, he would take to his bed. As kids, we didn't know that.'
Thoughts on Suicide
In a recent interview with The Times, Dawn addressed how suicide has occasionally crossed her mind. 'Suicide lives in my brain in a way it might not for somebody who hasn't experienced it so closely. As I've got older, I want to talk about the big things. I don't think I would ever make this choice,' she said, while understanding why some people do.
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This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV1 and ITVX.
