How are adolescents affected?

To answer this we need to try and get into the mind of the adolescent. Adolescence is a time of confusion as the person tries to make sense of the world. On the one hand they experience a desire to break free and forge their own identity and on the other there is the desire to belong to a group. It is a period of great change physically. With hormones working overtime the adolescent experiences changes in their body. It is also a time of social change as the young person struggles to relate to members of the opposite sex in a new way. Added to this are the mixed messages they may get in the family circle of "you're too old for this and too young for that." Imagine then the reaction when you add to all of this another big change like the death of someone or parents separating. It can be very difficult to cope to say the least. Adolescents, with their whole life ahead of them, think that they are immortal and omnipotent. The death of someone close to them either from an earlier time in their life or during this period of their lives can shatter these illusions. Parents separating or getting divorced challenges the assumption that they have grown up with as children, namely that their parents will always be there for them to nurture and protect them and to provide for them. The grieving process then can be painful for adolescents.