5 top tips
Bianca Neumann’s 5 top tips for someone dealing with grief.
TAKING ONE DAY AT A TIME
‘Focusing on one day at a time can help you cope with your feelings and get through the simple everyday tasks that you need to do. Keeping busy or taking time out.
‘You may find that keeping busy and throwing yourself into different activities helps. If this works for you, try to do things even if you don’t feel up to it. Alternatively, you may find you need to take things more slowly and take time out of your dayto-day life and activities. You need to do whichever works best for you.’
RECOGNISING YOUR EMOTIONS
‘Lots of the emotions you might feel when you are grieving have physical symptoms. If you are feeling stressed, your heart beat may be faster. If you are angry, you might clench your jaw.
‘Sometimes those physical symptoms might be a way of helping you to recognise your own emotions. When you notice them, you just need to make space at that time to feel those emotions, which can help you to cope with them.’
GETTING OUT OF THE HOUSE
‘Not only does getting out of the house give you some physical exercise, but it can help you to think differently. Sometimes, particularly if you are feeling lonely, it can be good to see other people out and about, even if you’re not ready to engage with them.’
GET SUPPORT FROM FAMILY
AND FRIENDS
‘It helps if you’ve got support within your own family and friends, as well as from others such as a support group. This is because friends and family are the people who will be there for you in the long-term. Talk through your feelings. It may be enough to talk with family or close friends. Or you may find it helpful to get some dedicated bereavement support either oneto-one or in a group.’
CREATING TRADITIONS
‘Important dates, such as birthdays, wedding anniversaries and other celebrations, can be particularly hard. It normally helps if you can think beforehand about what you will do and what will help you get through the day. You may like to create a tradition, such as visiting the person’s grave, or the place where their ashes are scattered. ‘There is no right or wrong thing to do on these different occasions, you only need to do the things that are important to you and that help you to cope.’