What to do if a Child Suffers From a Wrongful Death Loss, Part 2

If there has been a wrongful death in a child’s family, make sure the child understands the death in a compassionate truthful term. (Younger children will probably not understand the loss at all. However, you do need to make an effort with the child to communicate the loss as soon as he or she is of an age and mental capacity to understand.) You need to provide much needed emotional support. You should encourage the child to express their grief, and if needed, cry along with the child. You should reassure the child that the loss will not permanently adversely affect his or her physical or mental state or personal physical comfort.

You should explain that you will also have to deal with this deep sadness, and that both of you will learn how to deal with life without the victim’s physical or mental presence. You can soften this blow with words of comfort; these may involve spiritual concepts arising from your family’s religion. You should encourage the child to let out his or her feelings. You should not criticize reasonable expressions of negative emotions, including anger.

Tell your child’s coach, teachers, and any other adults regularly involved in his or her life that the child is grieving and how the child is coping with the sense of loss.

You should expect a fairly long adjustment period for both you and the child. You should monitor the child’s grief process and resolution to make sure that the most serious symptoms are getting better as time passes.

If you have any uncertainty or concerns, seek our counseling or set up a consultation with your pediatrician or family doctor. They can help you decide if a referral to a psychiatrist or child psychologist is needed. You should be especially watchful if there the risk factors for negative bereavement outcomes are apparent.

If you think that there may be indications of depression that linger and you are worried, get a reliable referral to a children’s mental health professional for any needed screening which may lead to treatment. However unconditional love and support is important, there are limits to what benefits even superhero parents can provide for their child. Childhood depression can be a serious illness. Realistically, it can only be treated and diagnosed by a qualified mental health professional.

Your basic job as a parent is to make sure that such professionals get involved when there are symptoms or signs of depression which persist for more than two to eight weeks.

If you are in such situation, we can help with this as well. While we can take care of your legal needs, if your child needs professional help, we can refer you to appropriate mental health professionals to get your child the help he or she needs. We really are here to help. We can work to get you the compensation you deserve and we can help get your child or children the mental health help they need, if any. Give us a call at your earliest convenience.

Are you in Corpus Christi? Have you suffered the wrongful death of a loved one?

Give Carabin Shaw a call. We can help. Call us at 361.444.1111, local if you’re in Corpus.