According to Health Direct, ¨People might feel or act differently to usual when they are grieving. They might have difficulty concentrating, withdraw and not enjoy their usual activities. They may drink, smoke or use drugs. They may also have thoughts of hurting themselves or that they can’t go on.¨ People will turn to drugs to try and forget what happened or say it makes them feel happy again. These can cause a person to lose all of their
Which is what Donald Hall paints beautifully in "Kill the Day". The first way Hall describes his grief is that it didn’t even feel like he was in the same world. As if he was in a state of limbo his first year of her absence. Starting off the poem depicting a car flying off a pier "for a year without gaining or losing altitude" (pg 386 stanza 1 line 3). If you have ever heard of someone describing a major car crash, where they took off into the air this may sound very similar.
“Grief is like the ocean; it comes on waves ebbing and flowing. Sometimes the water is calm, and sometimes it is overwhelming. All we can do is learn to swim” says Vicki Harrison, the author of Dressed to Thrill. Learning to swim is something that almost everyone can achieve. Just like swimming in the ocean, no matter how overwhelming it can become, everyone can learn to cope with their grief.
When it comes to grieving we need to seek help no one can heal on their own no matter how strong we think we
But he needed to say it, and she needed to hear him say it.” (p. 289). The loss that people experience will forever be a part of their lives. Just because they have accepted the fact that their loved one is no longer with them does not mean that they no longer feel the pain of the loss. Acceptance of the loss of a loved one simply means that those who are affected by this loss are ready to try to move on, to try to carry on life without the person that they have lost.
The first article, Reconstructing Meaning through Occupation After the Death of a Family Member: Accommodation, Assimilation, and Continuing Bonds by Steve Hoppes and Ruth Segal talked about grieving. To make yourself a better occupational therapist, promoting healthy occupational recovery after a death of a loved one. When grievers made sense to their losses in spiritual, personal, practical, or existential terms, it resulted in them feeling less separated from their loved one which allowed them to move one with their lives in a healthier way. To do this, people had to establish continuing bonds with the deceased person. Successful adaptation to life after your loved one’s death is developing new relationships and activities.
Many people spend too long grieving about people they have lost, instead of remembering all the good times with that person, don’t be sad they are gone, be happy about the time you had with them. “Grieving is a necessary passage and a difficult transition to finally letting go of sorrow - it is not a permanent rest stop,”
There are multiple stages of grief and healing. The stages have no order, so one person may not be at the same stage as another when dealing with the same situation. The same thing applies to the stages of healing. In the novel “Ordinary People” by Judith Guest, the Jarrett family, Conrad, Calvin, and Beth are all in different stages of grief due to the loss of Buck and other reasons varying from character to character. The two main characters Conrad and Calvin move from stages of grief to stages of healing by recognizing why their grieving.
After a death or loss of something close, people usually react similarly by going through the five stages of grief. These stages include denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. During a death of my Great Aunt, my family went through the stages of grief. I was close with her when I was younger, but I do not have many memories I remember with her so I did not experience much grief. On the other hand, my Great Uncle went through a lot of grief since she was his older sister.
But everyone goes through the stages of grief differently. People going through grief can also repeat stages more than once. Our grief is as unique and individual as our lives. First, the stage of denial.
The impending loss frequently intensifies the attachment to the dying person, causing an increase in concern for what they should or shouldn't do to comfort them. In contrast, anticipatory grief is a time for the gradual release of the dying person; saying "good-bye", "I love you", or "I forgive you". This period of grief before death is beneficial in preparing one emotionally and is a time to resolve old issues. Chronic grief is grieving that lasts for a prolonged or extended period of time.
Death is inevitable, yet the death of a family member or close friend always showers us with emotions. Nothing in this world can prepare for the loss of someone but overtime you learn to cope with the pain. Throughout this journey you will have good days and bads days. You might wake up one day desperately trying to avoid the heartbreak, wishing the pain would go away. Or you might wake up one day wondering when life returned back to normal, where the heartbreak went.
Just remember that almost anything that you experience in the early stages of grief is normal—including feeling like you’re going crazy, feeling like you’re in a bad dream, or questioning your religious or spiritual beliefs. Shock and disbelief – Right after a loss, it can be hard to accept what happened. You may feel numb, have trouble believing that the loss really happened, or even deny the truth. If someone you love has died, you may keep expecting them to show up, even though you know they’re gone.
LOSS, GRIEF AND HEALING As human beings, we suffer losses of many kinds and sizes in our life time. While some of these losses are small and do not hurt much, some are big and hurt deeply. Those that are accompanied by pains that are difficult to bear include the loss of a loved one through death or divorce, cheating or unfaithfulness in a trusted relationship or loss of good health when a diagnosis of a terminal illness is made. In all these instances of loss, pain and grief are experienced and an emotional wound is created which needs healing.
Losing someone is an absolutely horrendous thing to go through for all people involved. Loss of a loved one is especially difficult, the grieving and healing processes can be extremely lengthy and painful. Unfortunately, I know this horrific pain due to my father's passing in March of this past year. Loss is different for everyone, some people can immediately bounce back after accepting the loss while others take time.
