The Silent Crisis: Why Grief Support After Child Loss Is a Mental Health Emergency!
- Keisha Rodney
- Jun 12
- 2 min read
When a parent loses a child, the world doesn't just stop—it shatters. Yet for many, grief is expected to be private, brief, and quietly endured. At ARC, we know better. We know that grief—especially after the loss of a baby, child, or young person—isn't just emotional pain. It's a health issue. A crisis. And too often, a risk to life.
The Statistics We Can’t Ignore
According to the Office for National Statistics (2022):
The risk of suicide is over double for parents who have lost a child.
Bereaved mothers are four times more likely to suffer from prolonged grief disorder.
1 in 4 bereaved parents report symptoms of PTSD a year after their loss.
And yet, many families receive no structured support after the funeral. No long-term counselling. No trauma-informed guidance. No one checking in. Just silence.
We call this the silent crisis of grief—and it’s costing lives.
Grief Doesn’t Have a Timeline
Grief after child loss doesn’t end in a few weeks. It evolves, deepens, resurfaces. Parents tell us that months or even years later, they feel more alone than ever. Siblings often struggle quietly, mislabelled as “resilient” while they carry unspoken trauma into adolescence.
Unacknowledged grief can lead to:
Depression
Self-harm
Relationship breakdown
Substance use
Suicidal ideation
Why ARC Exists
Adonis Refuge Community was founded to change this. Our support groups, peer-led spaces, family events, and healing programmes offer a village of care around families when they need it most. We don’t try to fix grief—but we refuse to let anyone carry it alone.
If we treat grief as a mental health issue, not a personal failure, we can prevent crisis before it happens.
What You Can Do:
Donate to help us expand grief support for vulnerable families - https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/arccommunitygroup?utm_medium=FA&utm_source=CL
Share this blog to help break the silence around child loss
Join our mailing list to stay involved in creating change - https://www.adonisrefugecommunity.co.uk/contact-8
No parent should grieve alone. No family should fall through the cracks. Let’s build a world that holds grief with the same compassion we hold life.
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