Experts share tips on how to cope with grief over the Christmas period
COVID has changed the way in which people say goodbye to loved ones but there is help available.
Loss of a loved one is painful and difficult to deal with at any time, but especially at Christmas.
We are surrounded by images of families together and there are memories everywhere reminding you of what you have lost.
And COVID-19 has made it all the more difficult.
Sussex based clinical hypnotherapist, Andrea Aro, said: “2020 will, undeniably, go down in history as an extraordinarily challenging year and I’m sure that most of us have had to face a steep learning curve when it has come to adapting to the ever changing ‘ new normal’ and Christmas 2020 will be nothing like normal.
“The toll that COVID-19 has ravaged, leaves a wake of untimely loss which bears ever heavier on those left behind at Christmas, and the restrictions have meant that many have had to endure the additional anguish of being unable to say farewell to dying loved ones.”
Grief is a normal set of emotions that most people experience when coming to terms with the loss of someone they care about.
People experience it in different ways but may feel pain, shock, anger, guilt, depression and loneliness.
Asana Lodge is a private rehab centre, it highlights there is more than one type of grief.
Normal Grief – the loss of someone extremely close to you.
Anticipatory grief – felt before the loss of someone you love. 40 per cent of women find pre-loss grief more stressful than post-loss grief.
Delayed grief – postponed reactions and emotions in response to loss of death.
Complicated grief – severe
in longevity and significantly impairs the ability to function.
Disenfranchised grief – lack of social recognition or societal support of your loss.
Chronic – severe prolonged grief that can develop into severe clinical depression, self-harm or substance abuse
Distorted – manifests as anger, hostility, fighting or self harm.
Cumulative – built up over time due to many deaths, losses, life events.
Exaggerated – it intensifies normal grief responses and leads to self-destructive behaviour.
Traumatic – a product of an abrupt loss or tragedy.
Collective – felt communities or societies.
Abbreviated – short-lived response to grief.
Andrea said: “There are no rules or time scales to the process of mourning and it is a deeply personal healing journey. It is generally recognised that there are five key stops on the path of loss – denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance – and some people will experience each one of them,
There are no rules or time scales to the process of mourning.
by
ANDREA ARO