S.A.D.

You’re overcome with confusion as you hang up the phone. “Is she okay?” You ask but you already know the answer. As if losing a loved one isn’t enough trauma, imagine your school goes on lockdown because there is a gun in the school and you’re frozen with fear. Your anxiety rises and you experience that night all over again. Many people have experienced these triggering feelings and anxiety about situations after grief. These steps will help you through the journey of grief and overcome the everyday struggles that trigger anxiety related to your grief.

Usually, denial is the first step. You will deny the fact that this person is no longer in your life. Deny the panic attacks that happen when you drive past an ambulance. Remember that the ambulance does not signal that something is happening to someone close to you. Do your best to not spiral into a state of panic. Our minds are so stubborn, and we convince ourselves that if we can shove it away and we’ll be healed but sadly that is not how this works. Eventually, you will realize that their time on earth is completed. You will question why the most beautiful people leave us so soon, why bad things happen to good people and it’ll never be easy.

After coming to terms that they are gone, you will be angry. “I was so pissed,” teacher Laurie Huss Steils said. Huss-Steils lost her dad in 2021. Angry that now you come home to no mother, to no father or grandparent. That you’re achieving milestones without them. Even angry that when you desire a hug you won’t want one from anyone else but them. It’ll seem so unfair,