Helplines: Bereavement & Grief

(Read time: 4 minutes, 9 seconds)

Grief is a term for an emotion that we can experience for a whole host of reasons. Although we regularly talk about grief in relation to death, there’s grief relating to many other kinds of loss – for example loss of an old way of life, a job, an item, or a partner. Although grief is something we all have to go through, and continue to go through throughout our lives, talking about it with friends or family can be really tough.

We all probably have an idea of how grief feels for ourselves, but even individually we can experience different types or levels of grief. There's no one way to experience grief, and definitely no right way. You may cry at the death of an animal but struggle to express yourself after the loss of a family member or friend. Grief doesn’t always make sense, and how you feel can change from day to day or hour to hour. It’s common to hear the saying ‘time is a healer’ or words to that effect, but grief isn’t something you ‘get through’. Experiencing grief can also trigger other mental health issues like anxiety and depression. It can resurface years after a loss and can feel just as intense. Having someone to support us when we’re experiencing grief is important, as is being able to talk openly about how you feel.

But it is important to talk to someone. And if you don't feel comfortable talking to a friend, family or someone you trust, you can talk to someone at one of these helplines below:

Child Bereavement UK

"Child Bereavement UK helps families to rebuild their lives when a child grieves. They support children and young people up to the age of 25 when someone important to them has died."

CONTACT - Phone 0800 028 8840 (available 9am-5pm) - Email helpline@childbereavementuk.org

(Calls to 0800 are free)

Cruse Scotland

"Scotland's dedicated bereavement charity and the leading provider of bereavement training in Scotland."

Cruse helps companies and organisations to create bereavement-friendly workplaces throughout Scotland to nurture compassionate conversations around grief, death and loss. They also offer a chat service with a bereavement counsellor, visit their website at https://www.crusescotland.org.uk/how-can-we-help/griefchat/.

CONTACT - Phone 0808 802 6161 (available Weekdays 9am-8pm; Weekend 10am-2pm) - Email support@crusescotland.org.uk

(Calls to 0808 numbers are free)

Grief Encounter

Grief encounter are "on a mission to give every child and young person access to the best possible support following the death of someone close to them." They also spend time with you to work through some of the feelings that manifest after or during grief such as anxiety, fear and isolation.

CONTACT - Phone 0808 802 0111 (available 9am-9pm Monday-Friday) - Email grieftalk@griefencounter.org.uk

(Calls to 0808 numbers are free)