Grieving: 9 Effective Ways to Deal with Death

Have you lost your loved one in death? If so, you’re not alone; the majority have. The loss is incredibly painful and overwhelming, especially when it touches on a significant person, such as the loss of a parent, spouse, child, sibling, etc. The pain of grief can disrupt your physical health and experience difficult or unexpected emotions such as profound disbelief, anger, shock and guilt. Indeed, life can never be the same again.

Since losing someone you love in death is among the most difficult experiences in life, coping with this loss may seem a difficult task at times, and sure it is. In fact, overcoming grief can appear impossible, and so this article will tell you how to incorporate the grieving experience into your life rather than overcoming grief because it’s a better approach.

Lean on Family Members and Friends

The pain of grief may make you retreat into your shell and withdraw from others. However, seeking face-to-face support from those close to you can help you cope with this loss. Telling others how you feel may make the burden of grief lighter and easier to carry. Tell them what you need, such as someone to hang out with or shoulder to cry on.

However, it might be inappropriate to talk about your loss every time you meet your friends and family. Instead, you can get comfort from just being around them because they care about you.

Maintain a Hobby and Interests

Talking about your loss is vital to healing, but it may not be comfortable to share your feelings with others. Still, some people may not know how to help because they have never experienced such a loss. However, adopting a routine or getting back to your day-to-day activities will help you connect with others and bring you joy. This will aid the grieving process and help you come to terms with the death of your loved one.

Still, you can creatively express your feelings. For instance, do you love writing? If so, write about this in a journal. Why not write a letter about the things you never got to tell your late mom, dad, son, daughter, brother, sister or friend. In addition, you can make a photo album or scrapbook about the person’s life, get involved in an organization or cause that was important to them.

Alternatively, you can engage in what interests you, such as gardening, cycling, swimming, travelling, crocheting, baking or learn a new language. These activities will help you cope with the loss.

Understand that Grieving is a Natural Feeling

You will experience intense emotions when grieving. However, these are natural feelings, and you shouldn’t suppress them or get overly concerned about them. That means that you shouldn’t interpret intense emotions like profound sadness, guilt, anger, and betrayals as weakness of character, nor should you feel ashamed of them.

Actually, what you’re feeling often constitute grief and a natural response to bereavement, and so you should treat them as such.

Eat Well

What you eat can have a big impact on your general health and mental state, and so changing it radically as you mourn can make it difficult. So avoid eating unhealthy foods, not eating enough or consuming too much.

Further, avoid substances such as alcohol and drugs that seem to numb your pain and grief. This is because as much as they appear to help you overcome the loss of a loved one, they will leave you feeling worse when the pain and grief return. Worse still, they will make you depend on them for emotional support.

Take Care of Your Physical Health

Telling others how you feel remains one of the most effective ways of healing and gives you an excellent opportunity to release your emotions. Still, physical exercises can help you work on your inner feelings and stimulates the secretion of biological substances that are important in grieving.

A workout routine will distract you from your grief and raise your spirits. So go to the gym where possible, do yoga exercises at home, engage in mindfulness and meditation, take a walk in the park, and more.

Remember, self-care entails honoring your health and wellness, and it’s also self-compassion.

Give Yourself Time

The grieving process varies from person to person and based on whom you lost and at what time. Some individuals may leave the emotions linked to grieving within weeks, while others may linger around for many years. Therefore be patient when it comes to mourning the loss of your loved ones, and remember that time is a critical element to your healing.

Get Enough Sleep

Generally, grieving will disrupt your sleeping pattern because of the intense pain you’re feeling. Mourning the loss of your loved one is emotionally and physically draining. Therefore, it will be helpful to maintain regular sleeping hours as much as you can because this will help you cope.

Accept the Reality

Accepting the new reality though painful is among the final stages of grieving. Acceptance doesn’t come easily, and so it’s a hard-earned accomplishment. Sadly some people are not able to reach here because they keep on returning to the previous stages of grieving. Navigating through the loss and grief reality is not a walk in the park, but you may eventually discern that grief has profoundly changed you in different ways. Indeed, grieving can open your eyes to various aspects of life as well as bring out your core values through intense pain and loss. Recognize that accepting reality is not a betrayal but a natural, healthy way of healing from grief.

Seek Help

At times you may feel lonely even when you’re surrounded by those who you love. If this is how you feel, you then need to talk about it with others who have experienced a similar loss. That means it might be helpful to find a bereavement support group or counselling centre in your area.

Still, it might be helpful to talk to a grief counselor or a therapist when you feel intense emotions. An experienced therapist or grief counselor will help you overcome obstacles to your grieving.