Coping with grief and loss often requires help
The effects of grief and loss when someone dies can be both emotional and physical. Finding ways to live with the loss is important. Here we look at some things that can help.
You remain in shock in the weeks following the death of a loved one. For some, it may lead, at least for a time, to overwhelming grief and sadness. How you respond may depend on the relationship you had with the person that died. It may have been a loving one or there may have been underlying tension. How you feel can be influenced by how you shared the last months and days with the person who died. How and under what circumstances the person died may be a focus of your grief.
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Talking with family and friends
Support from your family and friends are important when someone has died. Tiredness and grief can make it difficult for you to remember some things. Sometimes talking about the final days may be helpful. It can help you to work through your experience of grief.
After someone has died, some people may avoid talking about them for fear of causing you distress. Sometimes it is better to take the lead. Talking about a loved one will let your family and friends know that it is okay.
Moving on
Family and friends will slowly return to their usual lives. They may not want to continue to talk about what happened. This can be true of the health professionals who have been involved, sometimes for months.
This can make you feel that the outside world is a busy, cold and uncaring place. You may feel that you have been abandoned. Some of these feelings may continue for a while but they generally resolve over time. You may find practical tools such as the MyGrief App helpful in dealing with your challenges in bereavement.
If you are an employer, you can also help the person to cope by assisting them to return to work if that is what they want.
20 Takes on Death and Dying
Video from Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief (UK)
Page created 17 November 2021
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Grief and Sadness Resources