Part 1

Mind -  

Not feeling real

• It can be hard to believe what has happened. For example, Bailey found after the death of his Nanna, thoughts like ‘I can’t believe it’s true’ were repeating in his head. 

• It’s normal for loss to not feel real.

Mind wandering

• Your mind can wander a lot.

• Sometimes it’s hard to focus at school.

Upsetting thoughts, memories, pictures in your head, and dreams

• Sometimes details, like how a person died, keep coming into your mind.

• Lots of people have upsetting dreams.

• Many kids find their mind is full of thoughts and memories about the loss.

• They can spend a lot of time thinking about memories, like how life used to be.

• It’s common also to push away thoughts and memories, because it feels painful.

Feeling bad about yourself and your life

• You can feel bad about yourself.

• Sometimes kids think it’s their fault.

• For example, Jamie thought ‘it’s my fault my parents divorced’.

• Riley thought ‘I should have done something to stop the accident’.

• You can feel what used to be important isn’t anymore.

Control

• Many kids have thoughts like ‘everything is out of control’ or ‘bad things are going to happen when I don’t expect it’.