Shrinking It Down: The Death of a Pet

Pets teach our kids how to deal with love, love lost, and death

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By Steven Schlozman, MD and Gene Beresin, Executive Director

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Last season, we talked about the benefits of pets for our kids’ mental health. That unconditional love helps our children to build skills and navigate important life lessons. What we don’t tend to think about, though, is that one day our pets will be gone. When that happens, do we try to shield our kids from the pain? Would it have been better not to have a pet at all?

In this episode of Shrinking It Down: Mental Health Made Simple, co-hosts Gene and Steve kick off our new season in celebration of our furry (and non-furry!) friends. They point out that while losing a pet is really, really sad, it doesn’t have to be grim. And even after they’re gone, our pets can help to guide our children through one of the biggest challenges we all face at some point in our lives: the loss of a loved one.

Thank you for joining us in this journey and conversation. If you have a question or comment about pets that we didn’t cover, we’d love to hear from you! Write to us here.

Media List:

Shrinking It Down: Mental Health Made Simple, “The Importance of Pets“
“How to Manage, and Help Your Kids Cope, When the Family Dog Dies“
“When Your Dog Dies: Reflections on Losing a Best Friend” (Psychology Today)
“The Pain of Losing a Pet” (Psychology Today)

Episode edited by Sara Rattigan

Music by Gene Beresin

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Steven Schlozman, MD

Steven Schlozman, MD, is an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School (HMS), course director of the psychopathology class for the MIT-HMS Program in Health, Sciences and Technology, and former co-director of the Clay Center for Youn...

To read full bio click here.

Gene Beresin, Executive Director

Gene Beresin, MD, MA is executive director of The MGH Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds, and a staff child and adolescent psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is also...

To learn more about Gene, or to contact him directly, please see Our Team.