Grief


Grief
in Lexington, Richmond & Frankfort KY


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What is Grief?

Grief is the emotional reaction to a major loss of someone or something. It is most often an unhappy and painful emotion. The three most common types of grief are anticipatory grief, normal grief and complicated grief. Anticipatory grief may occur when a death or loss is expected. Normal grief begins after a death or loss occurs. Complicate grief may induce a minimal grief reaction or a chronic grief reaction. 

Signs & Symptoms

Grief typically occurs in five stages:
  1. Denial, disbelief, and numbness
  2. Anger and blaming others
  3. Bargaining 
  4. Depressed mood, sadness, and crying
  5. Acceptance and coming to terms
In most instances, grief symptoms will occur less often and will feel less severe as time passes. Recovery does not happen in a set period of time. For most bereaved people having experiencing grief, symptoms lessen between 6 months and 2 years after the loss. Symptoms of grief can vary from person to person, but the most common symptoms include:

For anticipatory grief:
  • Depression.
  • Feeling a greater than usual concern for the dying person.
  • Imagining what the loved one's death will be like.
  • Getting ready emotionally for what will happen after the death.
For normal grief:
  • Emotional numbness, shock, disbelief, or denial. 
  • Anxiety over being separated from the loved one. 
  • Distress that leads to crying; sighing; having dreams, illusions, and hallucinations of the deceased; and looking for places or things that were shared with the deceased.
  • Anger.
  • Periods of sadness, loss of sleep, loss of appetite, extreme tiredness, guilt, and loss of interest in life. 
For complicated grief:
  • Minimal grief reaction: A grief pattern in which the person has no, or only a few, signs of distress or problems that occur with other types of grief.
  • Chronic grief: A grief pattern in which the symptoms of common grief last for a much longer time than usual. These symptoms are a lot like ones that occur with major depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress disorder.

Diagnosis & Treatment Options

Typically, normal grief does not need to be treated. Complicated grief may be treated with different types of psychotherapy, including complicated grief treatment or cognitive behavioral therapy. Complicated grief treatment has three phases that include talking about the loss and setting goal toward recovery, retelling the story of the death, and reevaluating progress made towards recovery to make future plans. Cognitive behavioral therapy teaches skills to change attitudes and behaviors associated with grief.

There Is Hope!

Grief should not be prevented because it is a healthy response to loss. Instead, it should be respected. Those who are grieving should have support to help them through the process. Call our office or your healthcare provider if you cannot deal with grief, you become very depressed, or you have long-term depression that interferes with your daily life. For more information, visit the links below:



What is therapy?

Therapy is more long-term than counseling and focuses on a broader range of issues. The underlying principle is that a person's patterns of thinking and unconscious awareness affect the way that person interacts with the world. The goal is to uncover those patterns and become aware of their effect and then learn new, healthier ways to think and interact.
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