Grief/Loss
What is Grief?
Grief is the reaction we have in response to a death or loss. Grief can affect our body, mind, emotions, and spirit. (kidshealth.org)
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Stages of Grief
The stages of grief don't necessarily occur in order, and the person grieving may move between stages.
How Grief Impacts Your Body
Physical reactions: These might be things like changes in appetite or sleep, an upset stomach, tight chest, crying, tense muscles, trouble relaxing, low energy, restlessness, or trouble concentrating.
Frequent thoughts: These may be happy memories of the person who died, worries or regrets, or thoughts of what life will be like without the person.
Strong emotions: For example, sadness, anger, guilt, despair, relief, love, or hope.
Spiritual reactions: This might mean finding strength in faith, questioning religious beliefs, or discovering spiritual meaning and connections.
How to Manage Grief
Express feelings and find support
Think of someone you can share your feelings with, someone who will listen and understand. Find time to talk to that person about what you're going through and how the loss is affecting you. Notice how you feel after sharing and talking. Being with others helps you, and your presence — and words — can support them, too.
Find Meaning
We can learn from loss and difficult experiences. Think about what you've discovered about yourself, about others, or about life as a result of going through this loss. To help get started, you can try writing down answers to these questions:
Take Care of Yourself
The loss of someone close to you can be stressful. Take care of yourself in small but important ways:
Sleep. Sleep is healing for both body and mind, but grief can disrupt sleep patterns. Focus on building healthy sleep habits like going to bed at the same time each night or establishing bedtime routines like doing gentle yoga or breathing exercises.
Exercise. Exercise can help your mood. It may be hard to get motivated when you're grieving, so modify your usual routine if you need to. Even a gentle walk outdoors can help to reset your perspective on things.
Eat right. You may feel like skipping meals or you may not feel hungry. Your body still needs nutritious foods, though. (kidshealth.org)
How to Help Others Who May be Grieving
