When a person is experiencing grief, it can feel like every day is difficult, and simple tasks can feel like mountains that require energy that a grieving person simply may not have.
However, even during the bleakest parts of mourning, there are ways that those who are grieving can manage their emotional well-being, even if it is one baby step at a time.
The aim of managing emotional well-being is not to get over the loss but to try and maintain your mental health to the best of your ability, while you grieve, to make the process easier.
Plan a Memorial
While a funeral is a memorial, for many people, it is not the only one that they want to have to commemorate the life of their loved one.
This can lead many to try a personalised, somewhat smaller approach to planning a memorial, which is usually something that they will have access to in their own homes. You could look to plant a tree in memory of your loved one, dedicate a part of your garden to them, or even create a scrapbook that you can look through about them. This can help you to have a space or an object to hold onto in hard periods of grieving, which will then double up as something that reminds you of them in a few years.
Eat Regularly
Grief can and does throw people into survival mode.
Physically, grief can increase adrenaline, reduce serotonin and dopamine in the brain, which can make eating feel very hard. So, try to eat small meals three times a day to help keep your blood sugar up. If this feels impossible, try to snack as often as you can on something nutritious, like fruit, nuts, or even vegetables. Try to drink water or juices, and, while it may seem tempting, try not to drink alcohol. This will help to numb the grief in the short term, but in the long term, it will likely cause more emotional issues.
Rest When Possible
The physical experience of grief does not stop at eating, and many people are surprised at how little or how much they sleep during the grieving process.
If you are struggling to sleep, try to rest during the day when you can and aim to maintain sleep hygiene as much as you can. If you are finding it very hard to sleep, it is worth talking to your doctor about medications to help you drift off. A lack of sleep will make grief harder and will also affect other parts of your life, so it’s best to get this under control as early as possible.
Talk to Family and Friends
Initially, grief often causes people to clam up and not want to talk about their loss. This is normal, but many people report that talking about their loss to family and friends helps them to build a rapport and also helps with the processing.
Seek Professional Help
Complex grief is when you have been experiencing issues with sleep, eating, or functioning for six months after the passing of your loved one. Based on who your loved one was to you (spouse, child, or parent), this can be normal, but at the six-month stage, if the symptoms aren’t easing, it can be worth looking into bereavement therapy to help you begin to manage the grief with professional help.