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To Sam
Shook up from the Manchester attack
Hi, me and my friend went to the Ariana Grande concert. As you may know, there was a suicide bomber and people have died and many people have been injured. Very luckily me and my friend managed to get out un hurt but we still feel very shook up about the whole thing. It was a terrifying night and we both keep replaying the flashbacks in our heads. we went back to school today but we keep getting mini panic attacks and we're both extremely scared that theres going to be another attack so as the terrorist threat level has gone to critical. We live about 1 hour And a half away from Manchester but we are both still extremely scared and we are both terrified to leave our houses and our family. We are finding it hard to concentrate at school but it helps us forget it for a Bit. We are both extremely sad for all those who have died and injured and social media is packed with it all which makes it worse. We have both been interviewed by the police but we don't have any "important" information as we didn't see anything apart from loads of people screaming and crying And apart from we heard the bomb and felt it. Two more police women came today and said that Childline and NSPCC are doing packages for those affected in the Manchester attack and we would really like one but we're not sure how to get one and where from.
Sam
Hi there,
When people go through a traumatic event like what happened in Manchester, it can take time for things to feel normal again. Getting the right help and support from the beginning is really important. And there's lots of help available to you.
Getting back to normal is probably going to take some time. But there are things you can try to help you cope with your thoughts and feelings in the meantime, which might help speed up your recovery.
One of the most important things you can do is to talk about how you feel and what happened. If you keep these feelings to yourself or try to ignore them, it'll make them harder to deal with later on. You could try talking to family and friends or an adult you trust. But you may need to also speak with a professional, like a counsellor or therapist. Someone like this is trained to help people cope with traumatic events. You can also visit your doctor and they can recommend what help might be best for you.
Anxiety about going out or that another attack will happen is natural. It's very unlikely that you'll be involved in something like this again but seeing other tragic events elsewhere may be difficult for you. However there are lots of things you can try to help you with these feelings. And talking to someone about your fears will help as they can support you to find ways of coping.
Social media and the news sometimes make it difficult to escape from what's happening in the world. Make sure you find positive things you can focus your time and attention on like hobbies, being creative or being around other people and doing something fun.
Childline and the NSPCC can help any young person who's struggling with what happened in Manchester. For anyone who wants to talk about it, our counsellors are here for you.
For those directly involved in the attack you may want to ask a parent or carer to contact the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000 to see what help and advice they can get for supporting you.
I hope this helps. Take care.
Sam
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