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How to Overcome Grief and Its Health-Damaging Effects?
Grief is an acute and uncontrollable sorrow that individuals experience due to the loss of their loved one, diagnosis of a fatal illness, job loss, failing in exams, etc.
Grief can lead to severe mental and physical conditions, while its acute depression phase can even make a victim suicidal. Therefore, if you find anyone close to you grieving, they need timely care and attention to overcome its health-damaging effects. If you are wondering how to overcome grief, keep reading.
What Are the Ways to Overcome Grief?
Share Your Feelings
While coping with the grief of loss, one of the best solutions is to share your feelings with a person whom you can trust rather than keeping yourself isolated. While sharing your sorrow with another person, you can not only get some relief from the pain and sorrow but also get some guidance to come out of the situation.Spend Some Time Alone
Another way by which you can cope with the sorrow of grief is by keeping some time for yourself and spending it alone. If you feel like crying due to the loss, instead of holding back, cry loudly and shed tears alone. In general, crying changes your mood since emotional tears help in releasing stress hormones that result in lessening your sadness and distress slowly but surely.Maintain a Healthy Diet
While coping with grief, you should maintain a balanced diet and intake of healthy foods. This means the consumption of fresh vegetables, fruits, as well as lean proteins. Besides, you should drink a lot of water alongside other healthy fluids. Strictly avoid the intake of alcoholic drinks during this phase since it is injurious to health. If necessary, consult a dietician and follow their prescribed diet chart accordingly.Exercise Regularly
Individuals who are coping with grief need some distraction in order to overcome it. A good solution is to carry out some exercises on a daily basis. These can include walking, running, skipping, push-ups, yoga, qigong, tai chi, and so on. Furthermore, you can do some deep-breathing exercises as well as meditation.Consult a Psychiatrist
Grief is a mental condition that a person suffers subsequent to a loss resulting in a severe mental shock. Even though, as per clinical evidence, this pain gets reduced down the line; however, it varies from person to person. Therefore, if an individual's mental condition worsens with time, it is sensible to consult a psychiatrist and take the necessary medications.What Are the Impacts of Grief on Mind and Body?
1. Mental Symptoms of Grief
Following are some key symptoms of grief affecting a person mentally:
- Sorrow
- Numbness
- Detachment
- Rude behaviour
- Anger
- Lack of interest
- Helplessness
- Fear
- Recurrent mood swings
- Sleepless nights
- Hopelessness
- Isolation
- Suicidal thoughts
Apart from the mental conditions, grieving can lead to various physical problems in a person, which can become fatal in several cases.
2. Physical Symptoms of Grief
Mentioned below are the physical symptoms of grief appearing in an individual:
- Nausea
- Shortage of breath
- Fatigue
- Lack of appetite
- Digestive complications
- Sore muscles
- Pain in chest
- Headaches
- Joint pain
- Fatigue
- Hallucinations
- Heart problem
- Stomach pain
- Increased inflammation
What Are the Key Stages of Grief?
Stage 1: Denial
Denial is the first step in an entire grief cycle. Once you lose any of your loved ones, like your parents, child, spouse, friend, relative, etc., you may refuse to believe it because of a severe mental shock. The same goes for losing your job, losing a romantic relationship, any sentimental item, losing a dream, and so on.Stage 2: Anger
After the denial stage is over, the following stage of grief is your annoyance and anger for the loss. In this phase, you may understand the actual loss that you have suffered. Sooner or later, you may feel abandoned and perplexed.
Subsequently, severe sorrow and unhappiness will make you feel helpless, and this manifests as anger. As a result, you may start showing anger towards other people. This annoyance may give you some relief from your sorrow temporarily.
Stage 3: Bargaining
The upcoming stage of grief after the anger stage is bargaining. In this phase, grieving persons start trying to find some way that could have prevented that sad incident from happening.
In this phase, the concerned individual may feel unsafe, distraught, and guilty. Besides, you will start blaming yourself and others for the tragedy. Questions may arise in your mind like ‘What if’, ‘If only’, etc. By thinking of these, you may end up increasing your distress significantly.
Stage 4: Depression
The penultimate step of grief is called depression. While coming into this phase, you may be able to realise your entire loss and get submerged further into the ocean of disappointment and sorrow. Several symptoms of this phase comprise tears, sadness, annoyance, despair, distress, and so on.
Furthermore, you may display a lack of appetite, insomnia, and feel lonely. All of these conditions can persist for a long time and sometimes require the involvement of a doctor and necessary medications.
Stage 5: Acceptance
The concluding stage of grief is known as acceptance. It signifies the stage wherein a person, after suffering from so much sorrow and pain due to their loss, finally accepts their prevailing situation. In this phase, they realise that the things they have lost will never come back. Subsequently, they will be mentally prepared to return to a normal life.What Are the Types of Grief?
Grief varies from one individual to another, and it is classified into various types as listed below:
- Normal grief
- Complicated grief
- Distorted Grief
- Chronic grief
- Anticipatory grief
- Masked grief
- Exhorted grief
- Traumatic grief
- Cumulative grief
- Delayed grief
- Absent grief
- Disenfranchised grief
- Inhibited grief
- Collective grief
Having an understanding of how to overcome grief will help you support the people around you to cope with this painful moment by standing beside them. However, keep in mind that there are different types of grief, and it varies from one individual to another. Thus, you can consult a therapist if the issue seems too much for you to handle alone.
FAQs on Overcoming Grief and Its Health Damaging Effects
Can Ashwagandha be used in the treatment of grief?
What are the symptoms of the anger stage of grief?
Following are some common symptoms of the anger stage of grief:
- Shoot-up of blood pressure
- Rise in heartbeat rate
- Increased sweating
- Shortage of breath
- Increase in body temperature
Which hormone is released during grief?
Can I fully recover from grief?
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