EXAMPLE PAGE - EBOOK - THE BLOKES BOOK - Flipbook - Page 17
GRIEF & LOSS
Grief can be an extremely painful process.
It’s something all of us have experienced,
or will experience, in our lives. Losing
someone or something you love is difficult.
We feel grief if we lose people we love, or
things or places we are attached to,
including:
• people – through death or a relationship
break-up or because a relationship
changes
• health – through illness or accident
• things we own – by accident or theft
• places – through moving countries,
schools, house or city
• our place in the world – through losing a
place on a team or a job, or because we
have changed ourselves
• pets.
Grieving is a very individual process and
how you grieve will be different from how
others grieve. Many factors influence this
such as your personality, your life experience, how you
cope under stress, your faith and, of
course, the nature of the loss. The more
significant the loss, the more intense the
grief.
There is no set time or process - grieving
and healing takes as long as it takes. For
some that could be weeks, for some
months and others longer still. However,
it’s important to know that over time the
emotions of sadness, numbness or anger
do fade and become more
manageable as you start to rebuild your
life.
It’s important to remember that almost
every feeling you have when you first suffer
a loss is normal. However, if you do not
eventually start to feel better, or you don’t
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feel as though you can handle things on
your own, you should consider speaking to
your doctor.
SIGNS TO LOOK FOR :
While loss affects people in different ways,
there are patterns of emotions and
responses that occur, such as: shock and
disbelief, sadness, guilt, anger and fear,
these can happen in any order.
Physical symptoms
We often think of grief as an emotional
process, but grief often involves physical
problems,including fatigue, nausea, weight
loss or weight gain, aches and pains, and
not being able to sleep or sleeping too
much.
It’s especially important that you talk to
your GP or someone close to you if you:
• feel like life isn’t worth living
• wish you had died with your loved one
• feel sad and disconnected from others for
more than a few weeks
• are having difficulty trusting others since
your loss
• are unable to perform your normal daily
activities.
Growing through Grief
acw.org.nz/grief-services/
Staros www.staros.org.nz
