Losing someone we love can be one of the hardest things anyone will ever experience but it is something we all go through at one point in our lives. However when you’re young ,it can be even harder to understand all that is going on when feeling these losses.
In the simplest terms, grief means we experience the loss of someone we love, that they are no longer physically with us and in turn we feel so many different emotions that can be really hard to cope with. But, what does grief actually look like for young people?
Grief affects us all in many different ways. There is no one set process in which we all follow when we lose someone. For some people, grief means they will have a constant feeling of sadness almost like there is a black cloud hanging over their head which feels like it will never leave them. For others, it can be a mix of emotions. One day you wake up and you are able to be ok, you can feel happy in moments and try to continue with your day but those dark clouds can slowly start making their way back reminding you about what or who you no longer have. It could even be that you don’t know what you feel, losing someone can cause you to feel almost empty of emotions like the loss is so big there is simply no words to describe how you feel.
Grief can be really scary for anyone at any age but the important thing to remember is that it can get better. It is not something that will ever fully disappear. Sometimes, people are able to deal with their grief better through time, they process their feelings, learn to cope and try their best to move forward with their lives. For others, grief comes in waves, everyday and every year is different. You may feel the loss so strongly that the feelings last a long time or maybe you deal with it but in years to come or on special days you are reminded of that loss. All these feelings are normal. When we love someone so much learning to live without them can seem impossible but when we open up and talk to people about how we fee,l then we can slowly start to feel better.
Grief does not have to be something bad, it shows the love you will always hold for someone, as hard as it is, grief can resemble just how important that person was and still is to you. As the great Winnie the Pooh once said “How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard”.
Thank-you to Emer from Team Hope Again for your contribution to our blog with this piece. We are sure it will help many young people navigating their loss.
