Loss, Grief, and Your Brain

As the President put it, "once again" the nation is experiencing fall-out from another tragedy. Because of instant communication options, the world has shrunk to the size of a global village. This means that what happens in Connecticut doesn't stay in Connecticut. What happens in Connecticut, in effect, happens everywhere. The ramifications are enormous. For whatever reason some brains are unhealthy and seriously dysfunctional. That is sad enough. But when their dysfunction leaks out in ways that drag death and destruction in its wake, that is beyond sad. In fact, there are no words. Events such as these can be enormously traumatic for children. Depending upon their age and a host of other factors, however, they may experience tremendous levels of fear and anxiety. Sometimes these are masked by behaviors that seem unconnected to fear and anxiety. For tips on how to help children cope with loss, as well as comments on how males and females tend to approach loss and sadness (often very differently), you can access my article entitled: Loss Recovery -- Grief Recovery Pyramid.   http://www.arlenetaylor.org/taylors-articles  With a little forethought in figuring out what to say or what not to say (sometimes empathetic silence is the preferred option) and by managing your own behaviors appropriately and effectively, you may be able to provide a great deal of help to others in this time of tragedy. The good news is that the human brain is very resilient.