Coping with the loss of someone or something you love is one of life’s great difficulties. If you have experienced the pain of mourning, you know that any way to ease the loss is welcomed. Often, the pain of loss can feel overwhelming. You may experience all kinds of difficult and unexpected emotions, from shock or anger to disbelief, guilt, and profound sadness.
The pain of grief can also disrupt your physical health, making it difficult to sleep, eat, or even think straight. These are normal reactions to a significant loss. But while there is no right or wrong way to grieve, there are healthy ways to cope with the pain in time such as Grief Counseling.
Grief is a natural response to loss. It’s the emotional suffering you feel when something or someone you love is taken away. The more significant the loss, the more intense your grief will be.—but any loss can cause grief, including:
Grieving is a highly individual experience; there’s no right or wrong way to grieve. How you grieve depends on many factors, including your personality and coping style, your life experience, your faith, and how significant the loss was to you.
In 1969, psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross introduced what became known as the “five stages of grief.” These stages of grief were based on her studies of the feelings of patients facing terminal illness, but many people have generalized them to other types of negative life changes and losses, such as the death of a loved one or a break-up.
The Five Stages of Grief
Denial: “This can’t be happening to me.”
Anger: “How? is this happening? Who is to blame?”
Bargaining: “Make this not happen, and in return, I will ____.”
Depression: “I’m too sad to do anything.”
Acceptance: “I’m at peace with what happened.”
If you are experiencing any of these emotions following a loss, it may help to know that your reaction is natural and that you’ll heal in time. However, not everyone who grieves goes through all of these stages—and that’s okay. Contrary to popular belief, you do not have to go through each stage in order to heal. In fact, some people resolve their grief without going through any of these stages. And if you do go through these stages of grief, you probably won’t experience them in neat, sequential order, so don’t worry about what you “should” be feeling or which stage you’re supposed to be in.
Complicated Grief
The sadness of losing someone you love never goes away completely, but it shouldn’t remain centre stage. If the pain of the loss is so constant and severe that it keeps you from resuming your life, you may be suffering from a condition known as a Complicated Grief.
Complicated grief is like being stuck in an intense state of mourning. You may have trouble accepting the death long after it has occurred or be so preoccupied with the person who died that it disrupts your daily routine and undermines your other relationships.
If you’re experiencing symptoms of complicated grief or clinical depression talk to mental health professionals right away. Left untreated, complicated grief and depression can lead to significant emotional damage, life-threatening health problems, and even suicide. But Grief Counseling can help you get better.
Contact a grief counsellor or professional therapist if you:
Learn more about how grief counselling and grief therapy can help. Please talk to us if there is something bothering you. Contact Cadabam’s or call at +91 9611194949. You can also mail us your query at info@cadabams.org.