How To Cope With The Loss Of A Loved One During The Holidays

Dealing with the loss of a loved one can make the Holiday season a painful time of the year. The Holidays are traditionally a time when families and friends get together while they share and create memories. The focus on family during the Holidays tends to drudge up the emotional scars that were sustained when that special someone passed away. Those who experience heavy grief during this time of the year can experience many different physical and psychological symptoms that are a result of the pain of losing someone close.

Many individuals who deal with bouts of grief during the Holidays end up experiencing anxiety, sadness, anger, loss of appetite, and most commonly fatigue. Most individuals who experience this type of grief attempt to fight through these symptoms on their own or allow themselves to fall deeply into a pit of despair. This can be difficult for other family members to watch. Individuals dealing with Holiday grief tend to close themselves off and bury the emotions, feelings, and memories they are experiencing. This is not a healthy way to deal with grief and ends up magnifying the problem.

One of the best ways to deal with grief during the Holidays is to decide if there are any Holiday traditions that you would like to discontinue. Many Holiday traditions can be painful reminders of the people who have been lost. Those traditions might have significant memories of that individual tied into them or they might have been that person’s favorite thing to do during the Holidays. It might help the healing process if those traditions are stopped and new ones are started.

When you are dealing with Holiday grief, you should never attempt to go through it alone. You need to share your memories, emotions, and thoughts with someone else. Internalizing these issues will only make the depression and grief harder to bear. Try confiding in a close friend or family member. You can also contact a counselor or therapist and share your heart with them. One thing many people do to help with grief is to journal. Buy a journal and record your thoughts and feelings on paper.

Listen to the messages your body is sending you. If you are feeling especially worn out, it might be a good time to take a small vacation and take some time to rest and relax. People often neglect listening to the signals the body is sending, much to their detriment.

By: Renee Wood, MSW

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Renee Wood founded The Comfort Company in 2000. She is a social worker that has helped families deal with the loss or pending loss of a child, as well as aiding patients in the end-stage of renal failure. The gifts provided by The Comfort Company offer memorial ideas as well as hope for healing hearts.