How To Cope With The Death Of A Loved One

When someone you love dearly passes on, be it a best friend, spouse, child or parent, it can be life-changing. The pain, the regret and wishes of what you could have done can all be pretty overwhelming. Dealing with grief is one of the hardest things in life and nobody deserves to go through it. If you recently lost a loved one; here are tips on how to deal with the loss:

Know that everybody deals with it differently

There is no one fits all kind of grief or a way that people should grieve their loved ones. Some people go into shock mode and withdraw, others talk about it nonstop, and others seem to move on fast. Whatever it is you are feeling, know that you have the right to deal with the loss in your own way and whatever works for you is what is best.

Don’t bottle up emotions

Some people especially men don’t want to show emotions in the name of being strong. Others fear that if they open that door, they won’t be able to recover. However, bottling up emotions is not the solution. If you feel like crying, cry all you can. If you want to scream and hit stuff, by all means do so. Letting out emotions will release that knot of pain inside you and prevent you from bursting out in anger later on.

Allow people to be there for you

After suffering a loss, one can feel an overwhelming amount of sadness and even go into depression. Instead of pushing people away, let your friends and family be there for you and help in any way they can. Simple things like cooking, cleaning, listening and just being there will go a long way during this period when you feel physically and emotionally exhausted. Sometime people may not know how to be there for you so tell them what you need.

Do what you love

There is no telling how long the pain and the grief will last. However, you cannot stay in the house and moan forever. One of the best ways to start the recovery process is to get out of the dark place and do something that you love. Travel, go dancing, write, go to work and just start living again. It will be hard in the beginning but time heals all wounds.

Get professional support

Apart from friends and family, professional help might be necessary in extreme cases. There are institutions everywhere set-up to help people deal with grief through counseling, support groups and exercises.

St. Marie Hospice provides a safe and supportive environment for loved ones to share their loss with each other and learn from others’ experiences. Counseling and group support is offered to anyone who has been bereaved for up to 13 months after the loss. The educational support groups, written resources about grief and the constant counseling and companionship help to take someone through the most difficult period until they are able to stand on their own again.