Grief is a normal reaction to bereavement. Not every bereaved person would need counseling support; however, grief symptoms could temporarily overpower our daily life and debilitate our cognitive, emotional, social, behavioral, and spiritual well-being. In general, bereavement refers to the loss of our loved ones to death and the pain followed by the loss. It is very personal and it may seem at times no one can understand or be able to share our pain, but grief need not be an isolated experience; through learning the coping skills and reaching out to and receiving help from a professional bereavement counselor, it is possible to rebuild life after the loss of a loved one.

Special note: bereavement is not only defined by loss through death; it includes losses that deprive us in areas such as one’s health, marriage, finances, relationship, faith, or hope.

Please remember, working through grief is a difficult process that requires a lot of hard work and determination, but with professional help, there is hope to regain our energy, strength, and reestablish our lives after loss.

What is bereavement?

Bereavement is a state of loss; it is a term that describes the variety of emotions, experiences, changes and conditions that follows the loss. Each loss is unique and the duration of bereavement depends on different factors of the loss. For example:

1.  The bond between the deceased and the bereaved.
2. The reason of the loss whether it is anticipatory, sudden, or traumatic.
3. The role that the deceased played in the bereaved person’s life.
4. If the bereaved person has any previous mental illness, or issue of depression.

What is grief?

Grief is a normal reaction that follows bereavement; it is a personal response to the loss of a loved one and in a broader sense, it is the response to any kind of loss.

Grief symptoms can be categorized into:  emotional, physical, cognitive, behavioral, and spiritual.

Emotions: Sadness, Numbness, Shock, Yearning, Crying, Anger, Guilt/ Self-reproach, Anxiety, Loneliness, Fatigue, Helplessness, Emancipation, Relief

Physical Sensations: Hollowness in the stomach, Tightness in the chest, Tightness in the throat, Oversensitivity to noise, A sense of depersonalization, Breathlessness, Feeling short of breath, Weakness in the muscles, Lack of energy, Dry mouth

Cognition: Disbelief, Confusion, Preoccupation, Sense of presence, Hallucinations

Behaviors: Sleep Disturbance, Appetite Disturbance, Absent-minded behavior, Social withdrawal, Dreams of the deceased, Avoiding reminders of the deceased, Searching and calling out, Sighing, Restlessness/hyper-activity, Crying, Visiting or avoiding places or objects reminiscent of the deceased

Spiritual: Questioning one’s faith, Rejection of previous beliefs, Anger towards God