Grief doesn’t begin only after the death of a loved one.

If a loved one is diagnosed with a terminal disease such as stage 4 cancer, is entering hospice, or is diagnosed with a progressive disease like Alzheimer’s disease, it is normal to experience the same feelings of intense sadness, fear, or even guilt that we often feel after someone close to us has died.

This phenomenon is called “anticipatory grief,” the clinical term for grief that begins as we await the death of a loved one, and it is experienced by both adults and children.

Children in the same family may experience the news of an impending death in different ways. A child’s anticipatory grief may include worries about how much they will miss their loved one, fear that they won’t be able live without that person, or a preoccupation with the circumstances of how the death will occur and if their loved one will suffer.

Grief is a natural part of life, and anticipatory grief is a normal, and generally........

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