L27 A Siblings Grief for young Adults C13R1404

One of a series of leaflets published by The Compassionate Friends This leaflet looks at what youmight be going through if your sibling has died. It has been written with the assistance of young adults who have also lost a sibling. We hope it will be a help to you. What it is like to grieve The death of our sibling shakes us to our core. We have lost our sense of security and belonging in the world. We may not be able to believe that they have died. We are in shock, struggling to take in what has happened. This may be especially true if our sibling died suddenly or unexpectedly, but we might feel like this even if they suffered an illness and it was known that they would die. When somebody we care about dies, our emotions can go all over the place. We may feel: • Deeply sad — we might cry a lot or we might be numb. The sadness might bring us to a dark place. In our lowest moments, we may not want to carry on living. • Guilty — perhaps about arguments, lack of contact or that we are the one to survive. Survivor’s guilt is a very common. • Angry — about how or why our sibling died, or simply the fact that they are gone. • Fearful — for the safety of our remaining immediate family members or ourselves. • Confused or unable to concentrate — our thoughts might wander all over the place. • Vulnerable and isolated — we can feel neglected. It may seem that only our parents’ grief matters. The dynamics of our family might have changed. We might now be the only child or the oldest. A Sibling’s Grief