The impact of anniversaries
It is important to acknowledge that anniversaries of traumatic events can be an emotional time. Anniversaries of events can serve as vivid and strong reminders of what was experienced.
All children and young people will have their own view about how they want to mark this. It is advisable to calmly discuss this in advance and plan ahead. There is no right or wrong way to acknowledge the anniversary, whatever works for the child is fine.
The anniversary of a major incident could create unexpected reactions. The child might expect to feel sad on that day. But instead find they are angry or agitated. You may experience a response that doesn’t feel emotional at all. You may find the child is unusually tired and can’t concentrate as usual. They might think they have completely recovered from the trauma. It may be a surprise by how the anniversary makes them feel or it may mean nothing to them. They may start feeling differently in the run up to the anniversary and not immediately know why. All of these responses are normal, reassure them of this and let them know their feelings will soon pass can help.
For more information go to the course Dealing with the Personal Impact of a Major Incident. Look for the page, ‘Coping with the triggers of a major incident’.