3 Signs You Need Professional Help To Deal With Grief
Grief is a normal process when you have lost a loved one. Unfortunately, grief can spiral out of control and become destructive. There are signs you may benefit from counseling or other professional intervention.
You Never Feel Better
Grief is not easy to deal with, but when you feel exactly the same or worse months later as you did when your loved one passed, this can be a sign you could benefit from counseling. You may find you are constantly thinking about your loved one and continue to feel strong negative emotions, such as extreme sadness or anger.
You're Severely Depressed Or Traumatized
No matter how long it has been since your loved one passed, depression needs to be treated. You may not leave your bed and sleep all day or cannot get more than a few hours of sleep. There might be significant changes in your appetite, such as eating constantly because you are never satisfied or you might have no appetite at all. Your responsibilities may be dwindling, such as home or work life.
Acute stress disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder can be triggered by the loss of a loved one. You might be traumatized if you were there when your loved one passed or they died because of some type of physical trauma. You might relive the experience and find it interrupts your sleep and thoughts. When loss is too great to handle, you may feel like you want to be with your loved one or you want to escape the constant emotional pain you feel. Suicide ideation is a red flag that you need prompt professional intervention to help you through your loss.
You Have Undeserved Guilt
You might place the burden of guilt on yourself, even if it is undeserved. Guilt can make the grief process more difficult because you may blame the death of your loved one on yourself. This is especially common if an accident caused your loved one's death or you feel you should have forced them to seek medical treatment for an illness. Guilt can occur if there were problems in the relationship. You may have wished you never argued with your loved one and said things you did not mean, or visited your loved one before they passed.
The loss of a loved one is never easy, but grief counseling is an important tool to help reduce the chances grief will become uncontrollable. You do not need to wait until grief is disrupting your life to seek counseling. Consider starting counseling soon after you experience a loss. For more information, contact Gillies Funeral Chapel or a similar location.
