Grief; where your body reacts to losing someone that you care about or it can be a response to things such as a relationship breakdown, losing out on life that you could have but can’t because of health or even a missed job opportunity. It can show up in ways that you least expect it and can hit you at any given moment.
Even though grief isn’t always about losing a loved one, it is the main thing we do think about when we think about grief. You can have grief for people such as family, friends or even your favorite actor or musician. You can be affected by anyone’s death that you hear about and that is ok! It can create a shock response, even if the death of a loved one is to be expected.
Losing someone can be a difficult thing to deal with as you’ll now be dealing with going through life without that person. Knowing how to deal with grief will help your mental and physical health. However, the thing with grief, it may never go away but hopefully it’ll get easier.
Coping with grief and loss;
Allowing yourself to feel; Everyone will experience grief at some point in their life and trying to push those feelings away will ultimately affect your wellbeing. Feeling those feelings when they come will help you heal, even if the grief doesn’t ever truly go away.
Remembering those you have lost; Keeping the memories alive of those you’ve lost is important in that healing process. It can help you find closure and allows you to acknowledge the impact of losing that person has on you. A community and a support system can also be made through keeping the memories alive of those you have lost.
Reaching out for support; Keeping a support system through the grieving process is important as it allows you to surround yourself with people that care about you. They can be there to pick you up, to cheer you on, be there as a listening ear or whatever you need them to be.
Looking after yourself; Making sure that you are taking care of your needs is crucial. It means showering, brushing your teeth, eating etc. Looking after your body and your external environment can help you with the healing process. It’s about being kind to yourself, setting up a routine, creating positive mechanisms and so much more.
There are five stages of grief; denial, anger, bargaining, depression and then acceptance and there is no time frame to how long you grieve. It’s about making sure that you have a support system around you. It can be a long process and during this time, it can be easy to use unhealthy coping mechanisms but having things already in place can help prevent that. Remember, with grief, you can’t do everything at once!