Death is an inevitable part of life, and with the loss of a friend or family member, we start a complex process of dealing with intense emotions. During these periods of acute grief, our mental health can take a beating, leaving us with difficulty sleeping and other health problems.
While there are no right or wrong ways to cope with the aftermath of a major loss like a parent’s death, there are things we can do to help ourselves and others start to heal.
For example, many people find comfort in creating custom portraits of deceased loved ones, adding them to meaningful life events they couldn’t attend. We’ve reviewed several portraits created by Pixels Photo Art, which offer a thoughtful way to reflect on a loved one’s memory.
Navigating A Major Loss: The Early Stages
No one ever experiences grief in quite the same way. The loss of a loved one is an intensely personal experience, and we all deal with it in our own ways and at our own pace.
For some, grief may make daily life feel impossible; for another person, their natural response may be to dedicate themselves to the well-being of other mourners. There are no ‘correct’ ways to cope with death, especially during the early stages of grief.
Mental Health During Grief and Loss
The grieving process after the loss of a family member or close friend is often referred to as “the five stages of grief”. This often gives people the impression that they should work their way through them in order, but in reality, that’s rarely how it happens.
The grieving process is complicated, especially after the death of a close friend or loved one. It’s not uncommon for a person to feel anxious one second and angry the next, then have it morph into sadness and crying. There is no certain way that someone should feel at such a difficult time, and all emotions can and will be felt.
Emotional pain is a normal response to loss, and it’s important to talk it through. Friends and family members are often the best people and form a vital part of your support network as you experience grief.
The Practicalities
After a loved one’s passing, especially in the immediate aftermath, things like dealing with funeral arrangements, notifying friends and family, and other practical considerations may provide some distraction. This can be invaluable when we feel overwhelmed, giving us somewhere to retreat to while we process our emotions, but still feeling like part of the process.
Not everyone will feel able to deal with this stage, feeling overwhelmed with a sense of grief and sadness whenever it comes up. If this is the case, it’s important that they feel supported by their close friends and family. The last thing they need is to feel like they’re navigating this alone.
Dealing With The Loss of A Loved One: Find Support
Once the chaos has subsided and the funeral is over, many people still feel loss acutely. This period can feel incredibly isolating, and moving forward with the daily routine is all but impossible. If a person feels this way, it may be helpful to find support groups or seek professional help to guide them through the ongoing emotional rollercoaster they find themselves on.
Talking To Friends and Family
For most of us, when we’ve lost a loved one, we turn to our friends and family for help with our emotions. They can help us talk through our feelings around our loved one’s death and may share spiritual beliefs and general outlooks that can help us cope with our sense of pain. They often offer the support you need, and you might be surprised by how they try to ease your pain with small gestures, sometimes even with thoughtful gifts like the portraits mentioned earlier.
It’s often helpful to spend time talking to the people who matter to you about not only your emotions and feelings, but also sharing memories. These stories help us feel a connection to both the lost person and those who are still around, helping us to cope. If crying happens, then that is fine, but laughter and joy at remembering the life they lived are equally valid expressions of their memories.
Support Groups
For some, though, they may feel that they are burdening those closest to them or otherwise unable to talk through their pain with them. In these cases, finding a bereavement support group can be helpful. Filled with people who are grieving similar losses, they can help a grieving person understand that their reaction is totally normal and give hope that healing is possible.
There are groups out there that deal with grief in general and others that are aimed at those navigating a particular loss. For those mourning the death of a child, for example, feeling responsible is common. That person may find it particularly helpful to be around people who are dealing with similar losses.
Professional Help
If a person is finding moving forward with their life particularly hard and feels that they cannot navigate the grieving process alone, professional help is available. Talking through emotions and feelings with a trained professional after the death of a loved one helps many people navigate the grief and sadness that could be derailing their lives.
There are specialist grief counsellors who can help those close to a person who has died come to terms with their feelings and start to rebuild their lives.
Help With Physical Symptoms
Grief is complex. It’s not simply a more intense feeling of sadness, and it can even manifest into physical symptoms. Having trouble sleeping and getting enough rest has knock-on effects on our physical health and psychosomatic issues, such as stomach problems, which are normal while dealing with loss.
Speaking to a doctor or grief counsellor can help treat these symptoms if you feel you need help, but in the long run, the emotional healing process generally resolves them.
The Death Of A Loved One: Finding Ways to Cope
Dealing with the loss of a loved one is never easy. When someone close to us has died, we may feel a sense of being lost, anger, grief and pain, often all at once, while we learn to navigate the grieving process. This pain may never fully pass, but in the long run, healing is possible.
Regardless of your coping mechanism, try to accept the loss as a natural transition—a change in how you continue to connect with your loved one. A portrait of your deceased loved one can be one of the simplest ways to accept their departure while still feeling their presence. The love you feel for them will never be forgotten, as it simply finds a new way to be felt.
