Grief Counselling: All You need to Know

Grief- An overview

Grief is a strong and overwhelming emotion that stems from losing someone or something important to you. Everyone grieves differently- for some it can stem from a relationship coming to an end. For others it may be losing a job, or terminal illness diagnosis of a loved one. Many life-changing events such as moving to a new place can also lead to a sense of sadness or loneliness. 

Grief leads to the feeling of numbness and an individual inevitably finds himself trapped in the emotions. He or she finds it hard to carry on with regular activities including eating and sleeping among others. 

But if you understand your emotions, take care of yourself, and seek immediate medical help from an established institute like Cadabam’s Hospital in Bangalore. Talking to others about the specific emotion you are going through will significantly help you deal with the pain.

How Does Grief Affect Your Mental and Physical Health?

The brain is overloaded with thoughts of sadness, loneliness, and many other emotions when you are in grief. The brain is focused on the feeling and symptoms of grief and how to get rid of it, so there is little space left for everyday tasks in your brain. Resultant, brain functionality gets affected and you experience poor memory concentration, and cognitive abilities. Complicated grief increases the risk of physical and mental health problems like anxiety, depression, sleep apnea, suicidal thoughts, and behaviors, among others. 

The grieving process

Inevitably, the grieving process takes time. There is no right or wrong way to feel sad and how you grieve depends on many factors, including your personality, experience, belief system, and bereavement you go through.

Healing happens gradually, it cannot be forced or hurried. Some people start to feel better once they start talking about their feelings. For others, it can continue for years. Whatever your grief is, it is important to understand that it is a neurological process. Be patient with yourself and allow things to unfold naturally.

The Stages of Grief

It was in 1969 when a psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross introduced the “five stages of grief.” These stages are based on the feelings of patients facing terminal illness, or other losses such as the death of a loved one or break up in relationships.

The five stages of grief are as follow

• Denial: Remaining in denial that this cannot happen to me. 
• Anger: You may feel frustrated, aggressive to the loss. 
• Bargaining: Dwelling thoughts on what you could’ve done to prevent the loss.
• Depression: Prolonged grief leads to depression and anxiety. 
• Acceptance: In the last stage of grief, you accept the loss you have gone through. Acceptance means you have moved on in life. 

Complicated Grief

Complicated Grief is a stage of grieving in which you constantly mourn the loss of your loved one. It becomes extremely difficult to recover from this and worsens over time. A person suffering in this situation is unable to overcome it on its own. They need to be guided and pulled out from this misery so that they can enjoy the little moments of life once again. 

How Can Counseling and Therapy Help?

The pain of grief if left untreated may want you to retreat into your shell. All that is important is to get help from your family and friends. Nevertheless, if you are not comfortable talking about your feelings to your closed-ones, you can consult a mental healthcare professional. The key is not to isolate yourself at any stage of grief. Consulting a mental health expert for grief can help you process the feelings you are going through and learn new ways to cope — in a safe space.

Both counseling and therapy involve discussion between you and the mental health professional to help address emotional, mental, or behavioral issues and solve problems. A licensed therapist, psychologist, counselor, or psychiatrist can provide therapy for grief.

Why Cadabams?

At Cadabams, we ensure that you and your loved ones get the safest treatment you need and deserve. Our team of psychiatrists is an expert in psychosocial rehabilitation, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to alter negative thought processes. The therapies have been proven to be highly effective in alleviating the symptoms of depression and anxiety that may exist along with grief. Our multispecialty team of psychiatrists, psychologists, counsellors, physicians work round the clock to deliver world-class evidence-based treatment.

It is a comfortable and safe place where individuals are treated with attention, love, care, and concern. 

Call us on our mental health helpline +91 96111 94949 for further details. 

Disclaimer – We strive to treat our patients with dignity and the utmost sensitivity. We don’t use any term in a derogatory fashion but to remain relevant to user search trends and common usage. In case you or a loved share a unique viewpoint on how we can improve this content for our readers, please reach out to us at info@cadabams.org

FAQ

•  What are the signs of grief?
• Shock and disbelief
• Guilt
• Sadness
• Anger
• Fear

• What are the holistic approaches to process grief?

While grief is an emotion everyone experiences once in a lifetime, it needs to be addressed to prevent psychological and physical effects on the body. Here are certain things you can do to process grief- yoga, massage, meditation, exercise, getting enough sleep, and behavioral therapies.