Can Grief Make You Sick? - The death or departure of someone we love can be traumatic. Loss hurts, and the resulting grief can be challenging. When we lose someone, we immediately feel the emotional impact. Shock, sadness, anger, anxiety, depression, and other emotions surface and can hijack us at a moment's notice. The ensuing emotional roller coaster can be unnerving and even frightening. What often...
You get divorced and people ask for a few weeks how you're doing. Your dad suddenly died and, within the month, you've received several notes from people who knew him and loved him. Your oldest child was diagnosed with autism and people who've walked that path offer guidance. You are grieving, and it will take time to heal. You don't want people to feel sorry for you. You don't expect constant attention....
There is no way out of grief. All you can do is experience it as it arises with more or less intensity. Some people refer to this as riding the waves of grief. You cannot always anticipate when a big wave of grief will be triggered. It’s important not to fight the grief or make yourself wrong for it in any shape or form. Longing, sadness, despair, anger, emptiness, disorientation, heartache and more...
With the emergence of COVID-19, we have gone through massive changes in our world and a deep collective experience of loss. As the Coronavirus emptied our streets, closed our businesses, threatened our lives, and isolated us in our homes, we have experienced profound losses; now we struggle with what the world will be like in the days ahead. Already there are massive numbers of people dead all over...
Humans love their furry friends, and more than -9 out of 10 people- consider them family. When given the option to select one companion for a deserted island, more than 50% of U.S. adults say they would choose their pet. But of course, most pets have a much -shorter lifespan- than humans, so many of us will outlive our dearest companion. Because of this strong connection, it can be difficult to cope...