Friday, July 18, 2008

Grieving responses

Grieving responses
When you are grieving over the death of your loved one, your body, your mind, your feelings, your behaviour, and your spirituality may go through major changes. And very often these changes are normal responses to your loss. For example,

When your body
does not want to eat or wants to eat too much
does not want to sleep or wants to sleep too much
loses or gains significant weight over a short period of time
experiences physical symptoms such as hollowness in the stomach, breathlessness, weakness of muscles, nausea, headache, gastric and chest pain (if symptoms persist please consult your doctor)

When you think
that you are going crazy
of your loved one all the time
that you are all alone in this grieving journey
that your future is hopeless
that you cannot live without your loved one

When you feel
sad
depressed
angry
fearful
guilty
numb

When you behave in certain ways such as
crying
isolating yourself from people
wanting to be surrounded by people all the time
not wanting to talk to anyone
talking about your loved one all the time
holding on to your loved one’s belongings
giving away your loved one’s belongings
visiting the cemetery regularly
increasing your consumption of non-prescription drugs or alcohol (this may be a normal coping response for some people but it is certainly not helpful in grieving)

When you question
previously held beliefs regarding the existence or goodness of God or a higher power
your own existence
the purpose and meaning of your life
the existence of life after death, or heaven and hell