Grief comes in waves and it’s whether you’re experienced with loss or not, it’s a challenge every time it happens in your lifetime. Some losses might come as no surprise and others come as a shock.
It’s important that you’re processing and dealing with grief properly so that you can continue on with life as best as you can – all things considered. Here are a few helpful tips on how to deal with loss and the grief that comes with it.
Acknowledge and process the five stages of grief
There are five stages of grief worth recognizing and acknowledging. These are:
- Denial
- Anger
- Bargaining
- Depression
- Acceptance
Each stage is important to go through and it’s important to know that there are no time stamps when it comes to going through each one. Yes, it might not be the healthiest to stay in that angry stage for years but for some, it can be a way of fully processing their grief so that it doesn’t linger in a way that impacts the quality of your life.
Find healthy coping mechanisms
Finding healthy coping mechanisms is important when it comes to dealing with grief because everyone handles their grief differently. Every loss will be different, so it’s important to understand what coping mechanisms work for you because chances are, they’re not going to work for everyone else.
There’s not a one-size-fits all solution for dealing with loss, so it’s important to work on your own coping mechanisms to start with. Find what works for you and that is healthy.
Get help for the legal stuff
Getting help legally is important and something to be mindful of when dealing with death. Whether you need to contest a will or sort out which assets need to go where, it’s important that you get that help as soon as you’re able to.
Dealing with legal stuff can be hard when coping with a loss so being able to get support for this part of it all can be helpful.
Seek support through therapy
Therapy is something to be mindful of when it comes to death because for a lot of people, it can be a great way of processing and talking through those steps within grief mentioned above. The problem though is that not everyone wants to take therapy for fear of the stigma that comes with it.
However, it can be productive to seek therapy and to take it as and when you need to for the purpose of processing your grief more effectively.
Self-care is important
Self-care is a big player when it comes to grief and the more you can look after yourself, the better. It’s not always something that’s done because many feel they’re not allowed to look after themselves or prioritize themselves when the family or a friend needs them. However, you can’t be there for someone when you’re not there for yourself first.
These tips are of great use for those who are coping with loss and needing help when it comes to processing the grief that comes with it.