How to Understand and Cope with the Loss of Something or Someone

After the loss of a loved one, or even some other thing most people will experience grief. Often times, grief can be sudden and unexpected and different individuals will react differently to the circumstances. Grief is a natural and normal response of the body to the loss of something or someone. It is important to understand that for many, understanding how to deal with the grieving process is not typically taught in schools and in the classroom. Even those who go on to receive an M.D. or a PhD degree may not ever learn about the healing process.

Therefore, it becomes important to be able to understand the process of grieving and what you can do when it does occur. Support from friends and family member's along with time will help heal the body's sense of loss. Loss can range from anything and can include the death of a close family member or friend, your ability to function as you used to be able to do to injury, your career taking a turn, and you losing a large portion of your monetary assets.

When someone first experiences loss, they may go into a state of shock and denial. It may be hard to convince yourself, what happened actually happened and you may have a hard time even in acknowledging that it did happen. The next thing that will happen is for individuals to reminisce about what they could have done differently to prevent the loss. They may begin to imagine things that never could've been and were never met meant to be, and they could become preoccupied about how life could have been different.

Once someone understands and recognizes that the loss occurred they will begin to experience feelings of depression. This may be accompanied by lack of sleep, fatigue, tiredness, and lack of appetite. For many people, in order to be able to organize and move on from the loss that depression stage needs to occur. However, typically the individual will also feel feelings of extreme anger due to the lack of power and control over the situation. This may cause the person to become withdrawn from what they would normally participate in and begin to say things and act differently than they once were.

After these extreme bouts, individuals will begin to accept the situation. This will begin to resolve the wide range of feelings experienced and allow for the healing process to integrate into the person's life experiences. It is important to recognize that even though acceptance may occur, the feelings of anger and depression, along with other feelings may reemerge later on in one's life.

It is important that the individual recovering in the healing process is not too overwhelmed with other things occurring in their lives. They may turn to drugs, alcohol, and sex as self medications; however, large amounts of any of these should never occur. If the thoughts and emotions experienced become too difficult to deal with professional help may be needed. In addition, support groups can be a large motivator for many to accept their loss and move on with their lives. Being able to confide in others and express feelings openly is of importance. Understanding the grieving process and how to cope is important for anyone regardless of age or life experiences.