Activities -

Avoidance:

• It’s common after a loss for young people to avoid reminders of the loss.

• This can include avoiding memories or images, and places that remind them of the loss or event.

Distraction:

• Keeping yourself really busy, so that there’s no space to think about the loss, for example playing video games or watching TV to take you mind off it.

Reducing or stopping activities:

• Many young people say they reduce or even stop doing things they used to enjoy like their hobbies, going out with friends or being at busy events. 

• Sometimes this can be because young people have thoughts like ‘I shouldn’t do nice things when I am grieving’, ‘doing nice things won’t help me’, or guilt for having fun after a loss. In modules 4 and 5 we will look at how to challenge these thoughts to help improve your mood.

Change in eating and sleeping routines:

• It is common for young people to find with grief and loss that their sleeping and eating routines can change.

• This includes increased or decreased appetite, finding it hard to get to sleep, or sleeping a lot.