What Can I Do?

You’re upset about the Manchester Arena Attack? That’s OK, you’re allowed to be, most people are, I am too.




I must admit it took a little while to comprehend what had happened, sadly waking up the next morning, this had not been a nightmare, this was the reality, and the rest of the world woke up to it too!

I’m no expert in coping with grief or dealing with the aftermath of such an attack. I am in no way writing this post to gain followers, clicks or whatever else skeptics and trolls will throw my way. I’m typing this to help me cope, to help you cope. I know there are guidelines that have been released to help children to cope, how to explain to them what terrorism is? I applaud the NSPCC and BBC Newsround for releasing such information. But how do us young adults and adults cope?

It’s all well and good saying that our loss of freedom, our fear is what these extremists want, for us to run and hide and stay hidden, and that we should carry on as normal to spite them. I’ve even said it myself and offered this as advice. I feel this is hypocritical even though I believe this how to be, how do I get from this feeling to there?
Taking from my experience and recovery with mental health, coping with grief and other personal matters I have a few ideas that some may find helpful (not everyone will but if this helps anyone in any way, that’s all I want to do really: help):

  • Helping (may be a way for you to start to cope, feeling powerless at these times is often a common struggle):

    • Donate blood to any hospitals that may need it if you live in the local manchester area.

    • Offer support and a shoulder (if you can) to anyone who may need it, the young the old and everyone in between has been shaken

    • Sharing images of any of the missing with friends, family or social media

    • Relieve the strain of the emergency services by only using them for Emergencies

    • Donations are being made via Fundraising Sites for the city of Manchester, the victims and their families, even if you cannot donate, copy and share the links (if you know of any other fundraising pages please get in touch so I can add them)

    • Share information on how to cope;



  • Be Kind (it may sound too simple but it helps):

    • With so much hatred and loss, Kindness is always welcome, do not discriminate someone because of their faith, all religions are in shock, disgust, and grieving

    • Do not engage with the trolls on social media, they are a different species who can somehow joke and mock these events, it’ll only make you feel worse

    • Spread messages of love, support, and kindness, rather than hatred or anger

    • To Ariana, who is clearly blaming herself for these tragic events and feels responsible for every life that was lost and every fan that was injured, it’s not her fault

    • To yourself, it’s also not your fault that your friend or family member was there, you could not have ever known this would happen

    • To yourself, don’t blame yourself if you feel you should have stayed and helped we all have a fight, flight or fright response and whatever you did was right

    • To the emergency services, first response teams, staff and security of the Manchester arena, who all did such fantastic jobs during and after this horrific event

  • Self-help (the news of this event has been very damaging to many, it’s soo important to look after yourself and your mental health):

    • Tell your loved ones you love them and surround yourself with them

    • Keep photos of happy memories around you so that you’re reminded of happy times that’ll make you smile

    • Turn the news off, turn off your social media, sure you want to be informed and help, but remember you still need your time, the images and content are very upsetting and it’s important to detach yourself even just for a little while if you can.

    • Try to relax, walking my dog and having baths (without my dog) helps me a lot, maybe read your favorite book or watch your favorite film, watch some vlogs on youtube or escape with music

    • yoga, meditation, and mindfulness can help you center, control and understand your emotions and how to process them

    • Seek help and emotional support if you need it, ask for help and it’ll be there, speak up about how you’re feeling and how this has affected you, it is in no way selfish and you have every right to feel the way you do

    • Use NSPCC, BBC, and Newsround resources, they might be aimed at children but they may just help you too

  • Grieve (whether you knew the victims or not you are allowed to grieve):

    • Release (environmentally friendly) balloons or lanterns or lotus floats, with or without messages in honor of the victims
I hope this helps anyone it can to move forward and try to cope with the situation at hand, please comment below if you have any other ideas, tips or helpful words to help us all cope and heal. I’ve tried to cover every base I could think of but I know my heads not in the right place if anyone can think of anything else let me know. If any of this advice has helped you get in touch. Share stories of support, stay strong and support one another. #WeStandTogether


(sourced from the Internet; Manchester Vigil)



Missing people:
Emergency Helpline: 0161 856 9400

Facebook safety check: https://www.facebook.com/safety-check/manchester-united-kingdom-explosion-may22-2017

Use #hashtag to help locate missing: #missingmanchester


 N.B All Pictures included in this post were sourced from the internet, I do not know the artists or photographers if you are aware please let me know.

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