During the pinnacle of one’s childhood, where innocence, fascination, and carefree expressions should prevail, everything doesn’t go as perfectly as fairy tales. A child’s psyche is nothing but fragile, and the loss of a parent can shatter the world of Disneyland in a million different ways. Approximately 18 million kids in India suffer from such a fate. Nevertheless, the effects of a parent's death can manifest in remarkably diverse ways. They can vary from eating disorders, self-harm, vulnerability, reclusion, suicidal thoughts to suicide itself. However, there is a tendency to confine the effects to solely what is observed. Therefore, it is crucial to recognize that in the face of such a grievous incident, the impacts can manifest in entirely unique and diverse ways because the inner workings of a child's psyche are intricate and nuanced; as someone who has never engaged in self-harm but has contemplated it, my intentions and experiences differed significantly from those of the individual I recently interviewed, who shared their perspective on coping with the loss of a parent. Understanding the effects of such experiences is a challenging task, particularly due to the significant influence of time. An individual who lost their parents during 6th grade expressed that "Almost towards the end of the 7th grade... it became more real to me," shedding light on the subtle transformations that occur in one's mental health, often going unnoticed by oneself and others.

This is completely contrary to popular belief where one would expect immediate changes in a child’s behavior post the loss of their parent. “We found that kids who have lost a parent are more than twice as likely than nonbereaved kids to show impairments in functioning at school and at home, even 7 years later.”. These lines were stated by a co-author (David Brent) of a 7 year long study in the Pitt Department of Psychiatry. These lines just go to show the complexities that manifest within. Even though it’s hard to understand and predict the effects of losing a parent, the support and appreciation extended to an individual can profoundly influence their journey, offering solace and resilience for the path ahead.