Grief Causes, Signs, Treatment: Children, Adults, Teens. How to Cope With Grief (Long−term grief)

No matter what others think about crying, cry if you want to as it's the bet way of coping with grief and loss. Let it all out. It will help you let it go emotionally and physically.

Don't allow others to have an influence on you and tell you how you should feel and behave. Crying is completely normal.

Grief can really be debilitating. You might think that everything is over and that there is no purpose to anything. But you are still there, and you need to take care of yourself. As a way of coping with grief and loss, eat healthy meals, sleep on a regular basis, and try to move as much as you can (exercise, hike, swim...).

As a way of dealing with grief, it is very important not to keep the emotions inside. If you don't feel like talking to anybody, try writing something in your journal, or making a tribute to the person/pet/thing you have lost. Sculpt something; write something; paint something; compose a song. There are so many creative ways in which you can express yourself.

If you are not sure how to cope with grief, the answer is simple, ask for help. In such a difficult moment, it is very important to be with someone. You should try and lean on the ones that love you and care for you. You don't need to maintain the appearance of somebody who is strong; you are allowed to feel grief like everybody else.

Sometimes people don't understand the grief symptoms and don't know how to help you with dealing with it and may say some wrong things, but don't be angry at them - simply tell them what you want and need and help them understand you.

If you are not sure how to handle grief, try understanding the reason for it. Even though it might seem it will never end, grief does end at some point. Or it becomes easier to come to terms with it. But first you need to understand what exactly you are going through.

You should be going through roughly five stages:

1. Denial
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance

Af first, you are in denial and can't accept what has happened. Then you are angry because it happened. Later on, you begin having thoughts like, "If I'd done that, it would have been different," and it follows a lot of 'what ifs'. Then you fall into depression. And the final stage is accepting that something has happened.

But you shouldn't be too much worried about the length of each one. It varies a lot, so don't be concerned with that.

Here is the page that will explain to you more thoroughly what you are going through, stage by stage.

Do not try to avoid your feelings, or ignore them. They won't get away just by ingoring them. You need to acknowledge your feelings, because unresolved grief can lead to many psychological and health complications and complicated grief treatment.

You might come across people who think that only crying and screaming (common grief symptoms) means that you are sad and grieving. But people can also grieve withut shedding a tear. It all depends on a person.

Also, you can't decide when you can stop grieving, since that is not even a choice; it's a process. So, don't let other's opinion on when you should stop grieving get to you.

If you feel that you are going through any of the phases of grief or the stages of grief after a breakup, try buying the How to Survive the Loss of a Love book. This book might help you understand your feelings and teach you how to ease your pain.

It's a fact that one cannot stop grieving whenever they want. If you are experiencing grief long after the loss, please seek professional help, since it can be harmful to your psyche and physical health:

• Intense longing and yearning for the deceased;
• Intrusive thoughts or images of your loved one;
• Denial of the death or sense of disbelief;
• Imagining that your loved one is alive;
• Searching for the person in familiar places;
• Avoiding things that remind you of your loved one;
• Extreme anger or bitterness over the loss;
• Feeling that life is empty or meaningless.

This condition is called complicated grief, and is different from clinical (major) depression because you can still experience joyful moments during the grieving period, whereas nothing of the sort can be felt during clinical depression, where a person is devoid of all feelings of happiness. The professionals know best what are the stages of grief and the stages of grief and loss and how to deal with them.

If your grief becomes so overwhelming and you don't think you can deal with it by yourself, try visiting a therapist or a grief counselor. They might be able to help you by hearing you out and offering you their point of view as they do know the answer to the "what are the stages of grief" question and how to deal with them.

Grief can sometimes be overwhelming and might take some time to go away (it can take months or even years for it to pass). So, if the feeling is persitent, and you don't think that people around you can help you much, try joining a support group, where people have been through similar things like you. They might be able to hear you out and help as the supervisors which are part of those groups know more about the stages of grief and loss.

If you are not sure how to overcome grief and if you believe that your grief has turned into something more serious, like depression, please check our solutions to depression which might be of great help to you.