Working through Anger from Death: Journaling Prompts for Teens

Grief can feel heavy enough on its own, but when anger is tangled into it, the weight doubles. For teens, that anger can sometimes feel like fire that has nowhere to go—showing up in arguments, slammed doors, or even silence. Losing someone too soon, or in a way that feels unfair, stirs questions that don’t have easy answers. Writing can help create a private space where emotions don’t need to be hidden, softened, or explained—just released as they are.

Journaling Prompts for Teens Working through Anger from Death

1. Write about a time when your anger surprised you during grief. What happened, and how did it spill out?

2. If your anger could speak directly to the person you lost, what would it say?

3. Describe the ways anger shows up in your body—do you feel it in your chest, your hands, or somewhere else?

4. Write about a moment when you felt like no one understood your anger. What would you want them to know?

5. Imagine your anger as a character—what does it look like, sound like, and what is it trying to protect?

6. Capture the thoughts you keep to yourself because they feel “too much” to say out loud. Let the page hold them.

7. Write about what feels unfair about the loss, and allow yourself to name the things that hurt most.

8. Recall a time when anger pushed you to act in a way you didn’t like—explore what was underneath it.

9. Draft a letter to your future self about how you hope to carry this anger differently as time goes on.

10. Write about a small, safe way you could release some of the energy of anger—through movement, creativity, or words.

The Real Talk Wrap-Up

Your anger is valid. Your confusion is normal. Your grief is yours to feel however it shows up. Writing about it won't make it disappear, but it might help you carry it in a way that doesn't destroy everything else in your life.

You don't have to be grateful for this experience or find the silver lining. You don't have to be "strong" for other people. You just have to be honest with yourself about what you're going through and take it one day—one journal entry—at a time.

Write it down, even if no one else ever reads it. Especially if no one else ever reads it.