Coping With Grief with Online Counseling

One of the most unavoidable, universal and timeless truth about life is the fact that none of us will make it through it without experiencing some kind of inevitable loss. And this loss is usually accompanied by its faithful comrades: grief, pain and suffering. Grief has to do with individual experience and is peculiar to each mourner and unique to each loss. Grief comes with sudden waves that destroy one’s peaceful and calm mood by an overpowering emotion.

To successfully deal with grief, there is a need for us to discuss some necessary valuable knowledge, proven strategies, and effective techniques that has been used overtime. The purpose of this write-up is to provide you with powerful skills or strategies that you can include in your life’s “toolbox” in order to flourish and thrive by living a fulfilled and happy life you so deserved.

Grief can be difficult to cope with.  Learn how we can help.

The following strategies offer a few suggestions to help you come through the waves as you cope with your grief.

Take time out – Getting over the experience of grief is in many ways similar to recovery from a serious illness. There are days that will be brighter and there are days that will be darker. Take time off your usual schedule, cancel or reschedule your commitments. Identify and separate the things that have to be done from those that can wait. People will understand and they won’t blame you for disengaging yourself from your commitments when in grief.

Avoid making major decisions – Grief can becloud your reasoning and judgment, the pain you are feeling at that moment won’t allow you to take other things into consideration when making a decision. Impulsive decisions can have broad implications that you may not be ready for. Even at all, you are to make an important decision, make sure to discuss your options with someone you trust. Someone you think is in the position to give you the right advice.

Get support-One of the most important factors in recovering from grief is to have people who you can rely on for support. Get support from your family members and friends, rather than avoiding them bring your loved ones closer and don’t hesitate to accept whatever assistance they are offering. During difficult times, we all need someone to lean on, a shoulder to cry on. Sometimes, those close to us don’t know what to do to help. Tell those who care about what you need, even if you take pride in trying to be strong and been self-sufficient.

You can also draw support and comfort from your faith by turning to your religion for support and solace. Engage yourself in any spiritual activities that are important to you such praying, worshipping or meditating. And if you are questioning your religion as a result of your loss, try and converse with a clergy member who you think should know better that you in your religious community.

Grief can be difficult to cope with.  Learn how we can help.

Talk – It is important to express your feelings when you are grieving even if you don’t feel comfortable talking about it under normal circumstances. Try not to alone in your grief. Painful feelings when kept to oneself are like infections rotting in a wound, they need to come out in order for you to be healed. Share your feeling with others to make the burden of grief lighter and easier to carry.

Take care of your physical and emotional health – While you’re grieving, it is very important to take care of your physical and emotional health. The pain of a major loss can make your energy and emotional reserves to be quickly exhausted. To get through this difficult time you need to take proper care of your health.  Rest, exercise and maintain proper nutrition. Eat small amount of healthy foods rather than large meals to offset a poor appetite. If you have trouble sleeping, take brief naps or relax by just taking off your feet from the ground whenever you can. And while you may not have the zeal to exercise, you can just take a brief walk round the house.

Avoid negative coping responses – It is also of great importance to avoiding the use of chemicals to numb the feeling of pain. As a general rule, there is no need for antidepressant drugs for a normal grief. Though they may relieve some of the pain that comes with the loss but they surely cannot cure it. This will only delay the acceptance of the loss and will only extend the grieving period.

By attempting to numb the feeling with substances like alcohol, illicit drugs, caffeine, sugar, nicotine or prescription medications will only prolong the pain of grief.  A glass of wine may be good for the soul and to relax the nerves, but abusing it can results into a host of new problems.

Have fun – Accepting your loss may be difficult, but that does not mean that you should be feeling bad at all times. In fact, it is important to take some time off, engage in activities that will distract you from your grief. Have a little bit of fun when you can, trying playing cards, watch your favorite TV program or any other activities you do enjoy before your loss. And you don’t have feel guilty about it.

Get professional help – The sudden shock that follow the news of a loss feels so overwhelming that it’s too much to bear. Get the help of a grief therapist or a mental health professional who can help you work through the intense pain of grief aid your recovery from the loss. At Gateway 2 Counseling (www.gateway2counseling.com) we are just a click away.

Sometimes, the major coping with grief strategies are not enough, especially when the grief has developed into a ‘complicated grief’ or major clinical depression. This happens when you find it difficult to accept the loss even long after the loss has occurred.

Grief can be difficult to cope with.  Learn how we can help.