How 3 Millennials Coped With The Death Of A Parent

Despite being one of life's only certainties, death is still taboo in much of the western world. This means that after experiencing something as seismic as the death of a close loved one, we don't all feel comfortable talking about our grief, opting instead to retreat into ourselves. Millennials in particular, a demographic currently in the grip of a loneliness epidemic, are struggling to come to terms with their grief.

Many report not knowing how to grieve in a world of social media, where people's accounts remain active long after they've passed, while young people are eschewing organised religion, which historically has been intimately tied to how we deal with loss. Websites like Modern Loss exist to expand the conversation online, but in dark times what many of us really need is IRL support. Three millennials told Refinery29 the coping mechanisms they turned to following the death of a parent, and advise others how to get through the experience.