Helpful Tips
Losing a loved one is very painful. You may experience all kinds of difficult emotions and it may feel like the pain and sadness you're experiencing will never let up. We often think of grief as a strictly emotional process, but grief often involves physical problems, including fatigue, nausea, lowered immunity, weight loss or weight gain, aches and pains, and insomnia.
Normal feelings following a loss are shock and numbness, feeling alone or isolated, disorganization and confusion, guilt, blame, anger or rage, sadness; crying, physical pain or other physical symptoms, anxiety, fear or panic and
feeling “crazy.”
Expect a roller-coaster of emotions. Experiencing the death of your loved one affects your head, and spirit, so you may experience a variety of emotions as part of your grief work. It is called work because it takes a great deal of energy and effort to heal. As strange as some of these emotions may seem, they are normal and healthy.
Allow yourself to learn from these feelings. And don't be surprised if out of nowhere you suddenly experience floods of grief, even at the most unexpected times. These grief attacks can be frightening and leave you feeling overwhelmed. They are, however, a natural response to the death of someone loved.
ACCEPTANCE. No matter how deep your grief, slowly but surely you'll be pulled back into the world -- perhaps even against your will. Life has a way of throwing moments our way that us to the possibilities still in front of us.
But at first, it's almost certainly going to feel like one step forward, two steps back. That's okay. Bit by bit your mind will accept what's happened, and you'll discover new reserves of strength and resilience.
Seek out experiences that feel meaningful. If seeing your grandchildren is the only thing that gets you out of bed in the morning, make as many dates as possible to spend time with them. Give back to others. Many people, when grieving a loss, find comfort in helping others. It can take you out of yourself and put things in perspective to help others in need.