In Response to Our Recent UConn Campus Loss and Tragedy

When loss happens, especially due to violence, we can have many emotional reactions that can range from anger, to sadness, to helplessness, to numbness. This may be the first time we are experiencing something like this or it may regretfully be an all too familiar experience for you.

We simply want to remind you that there is a wide range of grief responses. Grief is a normal and natural, though often a deeply painful, response to loss. Everyone grieves in their own way, in their own time, and at their own pace.

What is most important in a time of grief is to ask for and to offer support to those around you. A listening ear, a simple question of "how are you doing," a reminder to take care of oneself, or a request to someone to be there for you all goes a long way to helping each other through the terrible pain of grief.

CMHS has provided several links along the right side of this page if you want further information about grief—what it looks like, how it feels, what helps you and those around you through grief, and what are the signs and symptoms of someone who is having trouble moving through their grief and who may need additional help and support. Please feel free to make use of these helpful links.

Finally, please remember your current support networks are the best places to turn when you are hurting and feel like life can be remarkably cruel and unfair. Whether your networks are family, friends, religious communities, your team, your organization, or others, we highly encourage you to offer yourself in order to provide support and ask for support.

If your support networks are not enough, remember CMHS is also here for you. Click here if you are needing emergency assistance or here if you want to connect with our daily services. In the time of unimaginable tragedy, it is vital to come together as a community and find and offer support as we stop to mark our grief and simultaneously move forward with our daily lives. CMHS sends its thoughts, prayers, and well wishes to you!