Ways to grieve - pt.1

As we noted in our previous blog post, there are many different "right" ways to grieve. Today, we will cover three: numbness, anger and social withdrawal.

Numbness:

Some people may respond to a loss with no emotional reactions at all, or with a “numbness.” Sometimes this can be interpreted as the person not caring for the thing that they have lost, because if they did care, they would be doing more crying, or they would be finding life harder.

But sometimes a loss can be so significant or so difficult to process that the most natural thing to do is to have this feeling of numbness. It’s kind of like the person is saying: “No emotion is enough to adequately express what I’ve lost, and so I won’t feel anything.”

Anger:

Some may consider anger to be an inappropriate response to a loss, particularly if it is for the death of someone and it is not anyone’s fault. But as the following paragraph demonstrates, anger is a perfectly reasonable reaction to a loss:

“...Anger is okay and is a natural part of the grieving process for many people. If you think of being robbed of something that is precious and irreplaceable to you, one of the first reactions you might experience would be anger toward someone who could do such a thing. Grief is no different, because when you lose someone you love, or when you experience a significant loss, there is often a feeling of being robbed, a feeling of being deprived, and a constant reminder of the unfairness in how events have unfolded – and anger would be a natural response to any of these scenarios” (Winokuer & Harris, 2015).

Social Withdrawal:

People who are grieving are often experiencing a significant emotional burden. A by-product of this is that they can remove themselves from others, and from regular activities that involve other people. This is an understandable response; one may simply feel like they do not have the mental or emotional capacity for others at that point in time.

If you are grieving and you are experiencing any of these things, be reassured that it is okay. Any of them can be part-and-parcel of a normal grieving process.

If you would like to make a booking for grief counselling, please go to our booking page. To view any other services that Robertson & Ling offer, such as marriage or couples counselling, please visit our services page. of You are also welcome to a free, 15 minute phone consultation to discuss your suitability for counselling at Robertson & Ling. Alternatively, you can learn more about grief counselling at Robertson & Ling at our grief counselling page.