Grief can affect you in many ways. It can heighten your body responses, including your anxiety.
Grief and anxiety in children & young people
Grief can affect you in many ways. It can heighten your body responses, including your anxiety.
Your body’s reactions can cause your flight, fight, and freeze responses to react, which can heighten your anxiety.
When this happens, you might feel like you want to run away, protect yourself or freeze.
This is a normal reaction that can cause emotional and physical effects to your mind and body. It can make you feel overwhelmed.
It is important to remind yourself that this is a natural response everyone has.
When you become anxious your emotions can be confusing sometimes. You might notice physical reactions or changes to your body.
Take a look at out infographic to see some of the physical signs of anxiety in children and young people…
Think about your emotions as traffic light signals
Your bodies responses tell you things. Sometimes you can feel it physically before you recognise what the emotion is. It is important to listen to your bodies. To list to the signs, you may feel above.
Think of them as traffic light signals.
Your bodies physical and emotional responses can tell you when you need to slow down.
Green – is when you are feeling good, you’re resilient, you are fully engaging in day-to-day activities, your positive and energised.
Amber – your body is starting to not feel okay – this is when you need to slow down – either do something to distract yourself for a few minutes, a distraction, grounding technique can help with this. Have a break, to help rebalance and regroup so you are more resilient to manage and cope with the emotion, feeling or situation.
Red – when we are overwhelmed, upset, anxious and struggling with resilience, not engaging, unmotivated, distressed. It can help to take a step back and remove yourself from the situation, to give yourself the space and time to regroup.
If we struggle to communicate sometimes you can use traffic light cards or emotion bracelets to help communicate to people what you are feeling. So, they are aware and can support accordingly. It can help to talk to someone about what helps when you are on amber or red so they know how you need to be supported.
Talk to someone if you need help or support with anxiety
It is helpful to not keep thoughts and feelings of anxiety to yourself. It can be helpful to talk to someone. Sometimes, in the moment of anxiety you may feel isolated and alone, and you may feel there is no one you can speak to or reach out to.
It can be helpful to write a list of people who you feel safe and comfortable talking to; thinking of family, friends, school, even pets. Keep this list in your pocket, or phone to help remind you, in these moments, of the support network you have around you.
Sometimes we don’t want any input from people, but it can help to offload. If we tell people what we need and are feeling they will then be able to respond in supportive ways for your needs.
KEMP counselling support
KEMP Hospice has a team of counsellors who can offer counselling and emotional support, helping people cope with their grief when facing life without a loved one.
For more information about KEMP Counselling for Young People (11 to 17) click here or KEMP Counselling for Children 5 to 10) click here
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