Support for Bereavement
Bereavement or loss can affect people in a wide range of ways. You may feel incredibly sad, angry, anxious, in shock or alternatively you may feel numb or empty. We all deal with loss differently and although there are commonly talked about ‘stages of grief’ the reality is that there isn’t a set process or pattern that we all follow.
Grief can affect us all in the event of the death of someone we know, irrespective of our relationship to that person or the circumstances of the loss. Greif can also be experienced with other forms of significant loss such as a relationship breakdown. Counselling or professional intervention is not necessarily recommended during the early weeks or even months following a loss. It can in fact be more helpful to seek support from friends/family and others who may have also been affected. The important thing is to communicate with others and not be alone in your grief. However, if you do feel very alone, overwhelmed and uncertain of how to cope or you have been unable to process a loss that may have happened some time ago we are here to help. For details of how to access an appointment see this page: Get Help (The University of Manchester) or see resources and support services listed below.
All loss is profoundly sad but there may on occasion be a circumstance where a loss may be considered particularly shocking, tragic, unexpected and untimely. If you or your University peers (whether you are a student or staff member) have been affected by a sudden and unexpected loss then please contact counselling.service@manchester.ac.uk and a Duty Practitioner will consider support that can be offered.
Bereavement and Loss group
Each semester the Counselling & Mental Health Service run a Bereavement and Loss Group for students which takes place over a 4-week period. This group offers a supportive, safe space to continue processing your loss among others with similar experience. If it has been over 3 months since your loss and you wish to explore this group as an option for further support, please book an initial appointment with the service or discuss this with your allocated practitioner. More information can be found here: Bereavement Group details (The University of Manchester)
Sources of support
Here is some useful information on organisation, charities and websites that provide information, advice and support to those who are experiencing a bereavement.
Guides:
NHS Info on coping with Bereavement
Grief Experiences:
We can experience grief and loss in different ways depending on our relationship with the person. Please see below for more information on grief that may be relevant to your personal experience.
Cruse: A UK Charity for Bereavement and Loss:
https://www.cruse.org.uk/
Winston’s Wish: Provide support for grieving children and young people up to the age of 25 regardless of who they are grieving.
Winston's Wish - giving hope to grieving children (winstonswish.org)
Bereavement by Suicide: All grief is incredibly hard to deal with, for those who are experiencing grief from losing someone to suicide there can be added difficulties to overcome:
Losing someone to suicide - Mind;
Suicide&Co | Support after Suicide Bereavement (suicideandco.org);
Coping when someone dies by suicide (cruse.org.uk)
Traumatic Loss:
Traumatic loss | Cruse Bereavement Support
Pet Loss: Loosing a pet can be a difficult to process as we often have a unique bond with our pets: Coping-with-loss.pdf (bluecross.org.uk)
How to cope with the death of a pet - PDSA
Loss following health issues/cancer:
Cancer and anticipatory grief | Maggie's (maggies.org)
Grief support after someone dies | Macmillan Cancer Support
Coping when someone dies of cancer - Cruse Bereavement Support
Loss of a Child:
Grieving for a child of any age | Child Bereavement UK
Death of a child | Sue Ryder Grief Guide | Sue Ryder Grief Guide
Loss of a Partner (including ex-partners and hidden relationships):
Coping after the death of a partner or loved one | Sue Ryder
Coping with the loss of your partner – The Good Grief Trust
Loss of Grandparent
Grieving the Death of a Grandparent - What's your Grief
Dealing with the loss of someone you didn’t know well: Grief may often take us by surprise, and we may be confused when experiencing grief for someone we perhaps did not know well, or even someone we did not know at all:
Grieving Someone You Didn't Know (or Hardly Knew) - What's your Grief
Someone you didn't know - Cruse Bereavement Support
Grieving for someone you didn’t know very well (seesaw.org.uk)
Coping with anniversaries: Anniversaries and reminders can lead to powerful memories and cause you to grieve all over again.
Coping with anniversaries and reminders - Cruse Bereavement Support
Support helplines
Helplines/support available for UoM Students:
Health Assured 24/7 Student Support Line: A free mental health helpline you have access to as a student, where you can speak to a counsellor via phone or webchat. The app also can be downloaded and has lots of useful mental health resources: Health Assured (The University of Manchester)
As a student you have 24/7 access to our platform Qwell, which provides free, safe and anonymous online mental health support whenever you need it. The support includes drop-in messaging with mental health professionals, a range of self-help tools and helpful article in supporting you with your mental health and wellbeing. As well as access to community support and live forums. See more info here: Student Support | Taking care of your wellbeing | Qwell | The University of Manchester
External Helplines
Cruse Bereavement Support: call 0808 808 1677 (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday: 9.30am-5pm, Tuesday: 1pm – 8pm, Saturday and Sunday closed)
Greater Manchester Bereavement Service: Call 0161 983 0902 (Monday to Friday 9am-5pm)
Grief Chat: webchat is a live instant chat service with a qualified bereavement counsellor. GriefChat - Transforming Access to Bereavement Counselling
Podcasts
If you find podcasts a useful resource here are some that discuss grief and loss.
Persevering: a grief podcast - Let's Talk About Loss (letstalkaboutloss.org)
Home - Dead Parent Club
The Dead Sibling Society -🎧 Listen here - BestPodcasts.co.uk
Grief Kind podcast | Sue Ryder