Coping with grief during holidays
Q :These are my first
holidays since my husband’s death. What could help lift my spirits? A: “What you’re feeling is normal. Grieving is difficult under any circumstances. However, feelings of sorrow may deepen during the holiday season, especially the first one without your beloved,” says Irene Sobolevsky, M.D., a board-certified Internal Medicine physician at Kelsey-Seybold Clinic.
‘Holiday blues’
“For many, holidays can bring about intense longing for a departed loved one,” she explains. “Behavioral health specialists call this seasonal psychological condition the ‘holiday blues.’”
Suggested coping strategies
Dr. Sobolevsky offers suggestions to help manage seasonal sorrow:
• Spend quality time with family and close friends who share your feelings.
• Draw comfort by helping others. Volunteer in a community or faith-based charity outreach program. Helping others can help lift your own spirits. • Accept that death is a natural and inevitable part of our human experience.
• Embrace the present and make new memories.
• Take strength from the past. I’ll share advice from poet William Wordsworth: Though nothing can bring back the hour of splendor in the grass and glory in the flower; we will grieve not, but find strength in what remains behind.
“Should you feel depressed for a sustained period, see a doctor to check for undiagnosed conditions undermining your health, and discuss seeking professional counseling,” she concludes.
Bilingual in Russian and English, Dr. Sobolevsky cares for patients at Kelsey-Seybold’s Spencer R. Berthelsen, M.D., Main Campus, near the Texas Medical Center.