Why would a child feel responsible for the death of a parent?
Children often feel responsible for whatever happens in their young lives. This is called magical thinking and while it is not logical, it is, in fact, a big difference between how adults and children think. Children are egocentric, which means they see themselves as the center of the world. They are often unable to see beyond themselves. As children grow up they start to understand that they are not really the center of the universe and all kinds of things cause and affect events in their lives. It is human nature to look for the answer to why things happen to us, and children have a harder time than adults trying to answer these questions. Sometimes children can’t ask why things happen. They may not even be aware that they blame themselves for their parent’s cancer and that the parent might not survive. Even if they do wonder about this, it is very scary to ask, “Did I make Mommy sick?” For this reason, we have suggested that parents bring up the subject themselves, and say something
