Struggling to understand Di Bliss

Peter Bliss has struggled with grief and guilt ever since his sister Diana took her own life in the Cottesloe home she shared with her husband, businessman Alan Bond.

Every day, he thinks how he could have done more to stop Ms Bliss plunging into the dark pit of depression that led her to take her life on January 28 last year.

The 57-year-old told The Weekend West that though he still sees Mr Bond, they are not close friends.

"I wouldn't say we're best mates," he said. "We've had our own struggles, even since Di's death. You know, he's how he is and I'm a very different person to Alan.

"He's a very different man to, I guess, most men."

Mr Bliss, who lives in Sydney, said they planned to catch up when Mr Bond was there this month to celebrate 30 years since Australia won the America's Cup for the first time since 1851.

"He's moving on. He's moved on," Mr Bliss said. "He moved on pretty quickly and he's getting on with his life and he did very quickly, I think quicker than most people expected but that's Al."

In the 19 months since his sister's death, Mr Bliss has reflected on why Ms Bliss, whose life seemed - from the outside at least - glamorous and privileged, did not want to live any more.

"I probably don't go a day without thinking I could have done something more than I did," Mr Bliss said.

"Because she lived in Perth, well London really, before she took her life in Perth, it was fairly hard to understand what was going on, even though I went to London twice myself." Indeed, Mr Bliss believes his sister's lifestyle contributed to her illness.

"I don't think living in London and in Perth and flitting around the world helped, to be honest," he said.

Peter Bliss at home in Sydney. Picture: Louise M Cooper


Ms Bliss was married to Mr Bond - best known for his role in Australia's 1983 America's Cup win and as the millionaire Perth businessman jailed for corporate fraud in 1997 - for 17 years.

The couple spent much of their time living in London, where Ms Bliss worked as a theatre producer.

In an interview with The West Australian in June, Mr Bond spoke publicly for the first time about his wife's death. The 75-year-old said he had been "really distraught after losing Di" and often went to church in London and lit candles.

Mr Bond said after one church visit, he suddenly felt the weight lifted off him.

"I could then deal with it. I knew she was gone, completely, and I could deal with it," he said. "It was quite uplifting."

Mr Bliss has been trying to deal with his sister's suicide by helping others in similar situations. He worked in the corporate world for years, including as the marketing manager for cigarette brand Winfield, before a near-death experience, as he calls it, in 1999 led to huge change.

"I thought I was having a heart attack in a room by myself. It was from stress, but I thought I was having a heart attack and spent a couple of days in hospital," he said.

"That was the scariest day of my life and that made me wake up. I was asleep to what I was doing to myself, working too hard, not looking after myself."

After that, Mr Bliss set up his own company as a business coach and ran workshops about mindfulness for employees.

Since Ms Bliss' death, he has shifted his focus to mental health and is holding his first public workshops in Perth.

The workshops aim to help people "manage their emotions and master their minds", using the Demartini method, a US-originated process for dealing with stress and conflict.

Happiness has come to the family again with the November birth of Mr Bliss' brother Graeme's daughter, named Diana.

"She's been a blessing since Di died," Mr Bliss said.

For information on Peter Bliss' public workshops, go to www.apogeemsc.com/events .

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