There Are Many Methods to Try to Cope With Grief

Coping with grief is a necessary skill to have in order to function emotionally as an adult. Dealing with grief is never an easy thing to do, but it is also something everyone has to do at some point. Grief is hard in multiple ways. Losing anyone or anything important in life is a lot to process. Learning how to move on with life after a significant loss is hard to do in the first place. What makes grief doubly hard is that it's a skill you often have to employ without warning.

Many cases of loss in life come as a surprise. Even when the loss might have been something a person knew in advance about, knowing about it on a rational level doesn't prepare them for the emotional devastation that follows. Fortunately, there are ways of coping with grief that help people find peace inside once more.

1 - You Aren't Alone, So Try to Not Push People Away

Grief usually happens because someone you love or care for has passed away. Their departure leaves a hole in your heart, and that emptiness can make you suddenly feel very lonely. A familiar face and part of your social network or family tree is no longer around. To cope with this, try and remember that you are in fact not alone. There are still plenty of people around you in your life, and some of them might also be dealing with grief right now, too.

2 - Try to Go Easy With Yourself

Grief can be truly exhausting. Research has known for some time now that the human body responds the same to a broken heart as it does a broken bone. Care for your body, even if your heart is a heavy one and your mind feels numb. Take naps when tired. Eat foods that nourish you. Drink lots of water. Sugar and alcohol might give you temporary relief, but they can also backfire on you hard. Get lots of rest, and be mindful of what you eat and drink.

3 - Put the “Ocean” in New Perspective

Grief can feel like an ocean. That ocean is an endless abyss of negative emotion that knows no bounds or depth. If you are at all visual as a person, try to put that ocean into perspective when you feel it. Think of the grief as the waves more than the water. Grief tends to crest and then crash onto you. Visualizing things this way will help you feel the waves coming up in time to find support and care for yourself before you let each wave go.

4 - Be Careful About How You Talk to Yourself

This might even apply to how you let others talk to you. Grief is bad enough on its own. Don't tell yourself or let others tell you how you should or should not handle it. Grief can take many forms, be it sadness, relief, or anger. Whatever you feel, let yourself feel it. All these feelings are valid and normal. Everyone deals with grief according to their personality, story, and context.

5 - Don't Believe You Can't Handle It

Wanting to bypass or skip over painful experiences is just human nature. Losing someone important to you can bring about pain that feels intolerable. While there will be moments where it feels like you can't handle it, the truth is that you can. Find the courage and support to face things, because stifling your feelings can actually make them fester and intensify. Taking time to process things can actually help you become more resilient as a person and develop internal resources you didn't know you had.

6 - The Waves Won't Last Forever

As you move through grief, you may find that the ocean waves you visualized start turning into cycles. Instead of feeling bad all day long, you'll move into a phase where you feel up and down over the course of the day. You'll eventually get to a point where you feel somewhat normal again for a whole day or longer. Then, the grief will come back up. This is the slowing tide as the grief pulls out of your life. Don't fight it, and it will pass on its own.