Dealing with loss can be very upsetting and difficult. There is no right or wrong way to respond to loss. How we feel after a loss depends on many things. For example, how old we are or what support we have. Dealing with loss can be harder if you have mental health difficulties. This course looks at different types of loss and how they might make you feel. It thinks about how we go about dealing with loss. It gives ideas for you to help yourself or someone else. The course also asks you to think about how your background or spiritual beliefs play a part in dealing with loss.
This course will take about 1 to 2 hours to do depending on how fast you read and how long you spend on the activities. The course can be done at your own speed. If you leave and come back to the course it will remember where you got up to.
Course updated: February 2025.
This course is for education and information only. It does not give therapy, medical advice or professional support. If you need crisis support, please contact local mental health services, your GP or telephone 111 or the emergency services.
BEAD (Bereaved through Alcohol and Drugs) (opens in a new tab) – gives information and support for anyone bereaved through drug or alcohol use.
The Childhood Bereavement Network (opens in a new tab) – this website has a list of local open access services which support children and young people who have been bereaved. In addition, the following organisations have a national remit to support those helping children and young people affected by death and bereavement.
Child Bereavement UK (opens in a new tab)– gives support for anyone who has lost a child, and for children themselves who are bereaved.
Cruse Bereavement Care (opens in a new tab) – offers face-to-face, telephone, email and online support for anyone who has experienced a loss.
Child Death Helpline (opens in a new tab) – for anyone affected by the death of a child of any age.
Dying Matters (opens in a new tab) – a group of individual and organisation members across England and Wales, which aims to help people talk more openly about dying, death and bereavement, and to make plans for the end of life.
GOV.UK What to do when someone dies (opens in a new tab)
Hope Again (opens in a new tab)– Young people living after loss.
Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Charity (opens in a new tab) (SANDS) gives information and support for anybody affected by the death of a baby.
Sudden Death (opens in a new tab) – helps people who have experienced a sudden bereavement to access specialist information and advice.
The Compassionate Friends (opens in a new tab) – offers a range of services supporting bereaved parents and their families.
The Good Grief Trust (opens in a new tab)– this website offers support, advice and information for the bereaved.
WAY Widowed and Young Bereavement Support UK (opens in a new tab) offers support to people under 50 who have lost a partner.
What’s your grief (opens in a new good)– online resource dealing with all areas of grief.
Winston’s Wish (opens in a new tab) – support for children and young people after a death of a parent or sibling.
Jo Bell, Louis Bailey & David Kennedy (2015 “We do it to keep him alive”: bereaved individuals’ experiences of online suicide memorials and continuing bonds, Mortality, 2004, 3750389.