Everyone goes through grief in their own way and that can sometimes get in the way of their personal and outside life.
Grief is having deep sorrow specifically for a person’s death, people immediately think of how they are going to cope.
If someone is struggling with grief, they want to have time to cope and be able to grieve. However, school and other activities might take up that time. People’s outside life can be completely affected by taking up their whole day to the point they skip activities and school
H-F can help with children battling grief starting with talking with counselors and social workers. Those are the usual ways for teenagers specifically at H-F, but the school also provides a grief program run by social worker Lauren White. It is a way for students to talk about what they are going through in their life.
Child Bereavement UK stated that ‘puddle-jumping’ is considered a stable mechanism that stops children from having overwhelming emotions take over their lives.
When they get older, the ‘puddle-jumping’ mechanism starts to fade. Child Bereavement UK stated that, “As children get older, this instinctive ‘puddle-jumping’ becomes harder and teenagers spend long periods of time in one behavior, such as being withdrawn or very busy.”
Teenagers take more time grieving which gets in the way with their social life.
According to Avery’s House, a teen mental health treatment home, teenagers have social withdrawal when battling with grief. “They might avoid get-togethers, stop texting or calling friends and prefer to spend time alone. While isolation can sometimes help teens cope with intense emotions, it can be a sign that they need support.”
“When teenagers go through grief, they tend to isolate themselves from everyone as their way to cope. This is normally a sign to show support to know that they are not alone,” stated Avery’s House.
According to the Lawrence Grassi Website, researchers have shown that grades and participation at school will be affected when teenagers are battling grief. “This is true for most teens than any age group. They may have trouble concentrating during class and appear restless, have difficulty concentrating during class and appear restless, have difficulty finishing assignments, be forgetful or may have erratic attendance.”
This affects their life emotionally and socially, because they are isolating themselves with not only their friends and family, but their academic life.
This affects their life significantly, because their grades are slipping and it affects their career in the future.
Battling with grief is hard and almost everyone has experienced or is experiencing the stages of grief. All they need is support from other people to make sure they do not feel alone. A couple of ways to do this is to recommend teenagers to counselors, social workers, or therapists as one way to talk about their feelings.
If you are struggling with grief please be sure to talk to someone about it. Talking to your parents, therapist, social worker, or counselor is one step forward. When you talk to people it prevents you from isolation and makes you feel more seen about your situation.
