How to tell if you are properly grieving
How to tell if you are properly grieving
Grief Loss Response Kit
That's the information, here's the help;
That's the information, here's the help;
When it's time to get some professional help.
When it's time to get some professional help.
READ IN ONE MONTH: How you doing on your Grief process?
READ IN ONE MONTH: How you doing on your Grief process?
Read in 6 months.
Read in 6 months.
How to tell if you are properly grieving
or just coping:
Physical and emotional signs that you are stuck:
Refusing to talk about the loss in any way
Increased use of alcohol, food, drugs, or cigarettes
Being abrupt and distracted when in company
Spending a lot more time working or exercising—keeping busy to distract you from your grief
Lack of energy
Difficulty concentrating
Withdrawing from family and friends
Avoiding places that you visited together, in an attempt to avoid bringing up painful memories
Keeping everything exactly the same in case it means you might forget them, like creating a shrine
Being afraid to form new relationships for fear of being hurt
Being disconnected from what is happening around you
Inability to function in everyday activities—work, socializing, or hobbies
Headaches
Digestive problems
Loss of concentration
Eating too much, too little, or unusually
Sleeping too much, too little, or disrupted
Depression —physical symptoms of grief can feel like depression.
Grief can affect us medically but it is not a medical program. Medication can help us get to a functional level but it cannot cure grief. We must attend to the unfinished internal emotional work to work through the grief stages. If you choose not to they will stay there, heavy in your gut, waiting on you to return your attention to them.
(You can download and print this if you like.)