How to help someone dealing with grief

It can be challenging relating to someone going through grieving moments because you might not understand what they are going through. Therefore it is important to learn how to help them so that they would come out of their grief faster.

You can use these tips to help someone deal with grief symptoms

Learn about grief

One of the primary reasons why you are stuck on what to do is because you don’t know what grief means. You need to have a broad understanding of how it works so that you can help someone facing it.

For instance, you can begin by learning the definition of grief, the stages of grief, symptoms, etc. When you have this knowledge, helping them becomes easier.

Show kindness

If you have someone dealing with grief, this is the best time to be kind to them. Since you know how grief works, you will be able to practice showing love so that they can feel better.

One of the ways to do this is by doing things they would love. This would take their hearts off what they are facing temporarily. When you do this over time, they will recover gradually.

Discourage them from addiction

People dealing with grief are likely to rely on substances or addictive behaviors so that they can cope. However, they end up complicating the whole situation because addiction has negative long-term effects.

Therefore, support them by discouraging them from their addictive habits. You need to do this lovingly so that they won’t think that you’re attacking them or being hostile.

Encourage them to talk to a professional

Someone dealing with grief is likely to have a good understanding of what they are facing when they speak with a professional. It is advisable to speak with a mental health counselor or a therapist.

They are great at helping individuals understand the root cause of what they are facing so that they can be more motivated to seek help.

Common symptoms of Grief

No human reacts happily when they lose something except if it was of no value to them. Our natural reaction to loss is called Grief. This is a complex type of emotion that shows that we are not happy with the absence of something that was once valuable in our lives.

It is important to mention that Grief can be both direct and indirect. This means that someone else’s loss can cause you grief. Some people recover from grief faster than others.

Those who find it hard to heal from grief can develop mental illnesses like depression, schizophrenia, and anxiety if care is not taken.

Here are some of the common symptoms of grief

Lack of energy and motivation

Anyone grieving will find it challenging to apply energy to other aspects of their lives. They will become lackadaisical towards other things that make up their lives.

Such people will hardly be motivated because nothing makes them happy again. They will also show a lack of interest in things in their lives that once brought them joy.

Reduced focus at work

Grief can make an individual less focused at work. They will find it hard to pay attention to work-related tasks. In the long run, this will affect their productivity because they will keep making mistakes and their performance will be below par.

Poor interpersonal relationships

Many grieving persons derive no pleasure in sustaining their present interpersonal relationships. Most of them are focused on what caused their grief. Hence, their actions are likely to deteriorate their interpersonal relationships because it will affect the people around them.

Reduced self-esteem and confidence level

Grief can cause decreased confidence and self-esteem. The individual will discover that they don’t exude the confidence they once had. This is likely to affect them in different ways.

If you notice that anyone around you has prolonged grief, you need to assist them in seeking help so that it does not become chronic in the long run.