Dealing with Loss and Grief in Children

Children often learn their reactions to loss from adults in their families. Children may feel afraid and insecure, affected by the troubles and sadness of others. They need a little more love, support and organization of daily routines. When children experience a loss, they often begin to worry about their own and others' deaths as well. They want to know who will take care of them if both of their parents die.

When talking to children, it is necessary to give a valid explanation of the cause of death, using correct terms such as dying and dead. Using vague terms and trying to protect them only causes confusion. It is necessary to avoid using terms such as "going away", "sleeping" or "being sick", which are associated with death. Watching the child's reaction to the loss and listening to him ask him to describe his reaction to the loss will help him understand this situation concretely.

When family members or friends come to visit you to console you, do not try to take the children away from you. Staying silent and avoiding talking can cause children to think that death is a taboo subject. In this context, rather than teaching children how to protect themselves from grief and sadness, they need to learn how to overcome loss.

In order to prevent children from developing unhealthy coping methods against the emotions they have difficulty with, it is necessary to help them learn to recognize, name, accept and express their emotions. .

Children may try to protect sad adults and take on the role of caregiver. Parents need to remind them that they are children, without allowing this situation, and point out to them that they are the ones who need to take on adult responsibilities.

To help children overcome other losses. It is necessary to help them learn to come. For them, the death of their pet is a very significant loss. Methods of coping with loss and grief are developed in early childhood and often continue to be used in adulthood.

We adapt our religious beliefs to them. It is necessary to be careful when sharing. Children may be angry or afraid of God for taking someone they love and need to heaven.

Children express their sadness with their actions rather than words, so it may not be understood that a child is sad. Children commonly feel abandonment, helplessness, hopelessness, anxiety, apathy, anger, guilt and fear, and when they cannot express these feelings verbally, they are likely to express them aggressively. Understanding them and meeting these needs is one of the important duties of parents.

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