![]() ![]() Come up with a plan to get back on a more typical track after you find out how they are feeling and what’s happening. Normalize developmental “regression.” Changes like not wanting to be alone at home or difficulty sleeping alone are common.Offer choices to help rebuild safety and control. Ask what they need and don’t make assumptions.You will not put the idea in their head, but you will open a potentially lifesaving dialogue. Talk about what suicide means to your teen.At times, your teen may need to take breaks from the scheduled routine or participate partially. It helps restore a sense of control and predictability. Encourage sticking with a schedule as much as possible. Let the school know what happened and how they can help support your teen. Your teen may have trouble concentrating, finishing, or keeping track of schoolwork as a part of their grief. This can mean a faith leader, school counselor, coach, or therapist. Access to care is a protective factor that can promote healthy grieving and reduce risk. Provide access to support if you or your teen think they need it. ![]() For some teens, mobilizing around an organization on behalf of their friend is helpful. Assist your teen in how they can talk about and remember how their friend lived and not how they died.When you take time to reflect and become aware of how you are feeling and gently care for yourself, you have the capacity to be present for your teen. Showing openness to talking helps your teen feel connected and supported. ![]() Let them know that you know this can be an overwhelming time and that you will be there to talk about their friend and how they are feeling whenever it makes sense. Ask how they are doing and then ask again.You can help by encouraging hydration, oxygenation/exercise, and nourishing food. Physical complaints like lack of energy, headaches, stomachaches, and sleep complaints are common.Support from caregivers can be a simple acknowledgement or developing a plan for support prior to anniversary dates. The date of the month, a monthiversary, is meaningful to teens (if the death happened on the 5th, every month on the 5th is a reminder) along with other important dates, including shared special events such as beginning of a sport season. These reactions can be emotions, behaviors, or physical responses similar to what was happening for the teen at the time they got the news about the death. Anniversary reactions are common for teens.Say something like, “I notice that you have been with your friends a lot lately, which makes sense since you are all grieving, and I am wondering if we could give you some time to recharge your batteries without the group.” Or, “What is it like spending so much time with your friends since your friend died? Could you use some time to recharge and rest?” Let your teen know they can count on you to help them figure out when it’s time to take a break. Sometimes teens need caregivers to set boundaries to help them rest and recharge during a high stress time. Caregivers can support teens by creating safe meeting places AND giving your young person “permission” to take a break from teen activities. When a friend dies, teens take comfort in being together and learn about grieving from each other. Adolescent development wires teenagers to focus on social concerns and peers. Wanting to be with peers even more than usual. ![]() Help your young person by coming up with trusted sources for information, getting the facts verified about what happened, and encouraging media breaks. Media searches about what is happening are a normal part of the human stress response and can also increase the chance that your teen may get unwanted or harmful information because of computer algorithms in the search engines/social media designed to track information seeking.
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