One of the greatest heartaches is losing the one who raised you. The sadness, anger, guilt and a flux over emotions seem to overtake you and it can be difficult to gain perspective.
Here are 5 great tips from experts across the web on how to deal after a parents death.
- Realize your grief is unique (Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D.) Understanding that each of us grieves in different ways and our shared life experience with the one we loss will be different than others. Knowing this will help you stop comparing yourself with how others are grieving and let you feel free to grieve at your own pace.
- Understand the 5 stages of grief (psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross) When you become aware of the stages of grief you will be able to understand the grieving process better and come to terms with how you are feeling. 1. Denial 2. Anger 3. Bargaining 4. Depression 5. Acceptance.
- Learn from the experience ( Therese Rando, pyschiatrist, author) Find understanding in the experience of losing someone you love, that life is short and should not be wasted. Learn to tell those you love how you feel about them and don’t lose sight of what is important to you. Understand that you can take something meaningful out of experiencing such a tragedy.
- Put off all things you possibly can (Alexander Levy) Don’t rush into going through all of their things or end up making rash decisions. Taking time for you is the most important at this stage and taking your time to tie up loose ends and not rush through things will help this grieving process.
- Talking things out (parentingourparents.org) Having a good support system and talking things out is of vital importance. Coming up with action plans with a can help alleviate stress and give you the additional support you need during this time.
With these 5 expert tips in hand, you are on your way to the beauty of healing and will be able to start the process of moving on from grief and into the embracing of all that life has to offer.
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