How to be resilient from Covid-19 caused Grief and Loss.
March 29, 2022. 5 Minutes Read.
Come on friend! Let me hug You! I’m sorry to hear that this happened to you.
I request you to stay strong.
Please tell me what I can do for you?.
Grief can be an extremely difficult experience for people of all ages. While it is a normal response to a loss during or after a disaster, it can be hard to cope with the intense emotions that come along with grieving.
To help you understand how to handle feelings of grief during the COVID-19 pandemic, let’s take a look at the different types of losses that may occur and various reactions that you may have.
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Types of Loss
During a disaster, you might experience several types of loss in a short amount of time—or even all at once. While some losses are more obvious than others, they can all cause grief reactions. These kinds of losses include:
- The loss of a loved one due to death
- The loss of employment
- The loss of your home or financial security
- The loss of your daily routine and way of life as you knew it before COVID-19 hit
- The loss of social connections and physical contact with friends, family, and other loved ones
Each person will experience grief differently and in their own way. Grief reactions can be broken down into two categories: common reactions that are fairly universal among most people, and non-common reactions that are more specific to each individual.
It will End
But there’s good news: it will end. And more than that, you’re going to get through this. It might not seem like it now, but we promise that someday soon, you’re going to come out on the other side of this feeling strong and hopeful again.
Maybe right now, your world looks different than it did before. Maybe your job has changed or stopped or your relationships have shifted in unexpected ways or even been severed entirely. Maybe things look bleak and there’s no way to predict what tomorrow holds.
But we’re here for you, and we’re in this together. We’ll get through it together!
If you have lost your loved ones in this Covid-19 pandemic
Grieving the loss of a loved one while coping with the fear and anxiety related to the COVID-19 pandemic can be especially overwhelming.
Social distancing, “stay-at-home-orders,” and limits on the size of in-person gatherings have changed the way friends and family can gather and grieve, including holding traditional funeral services, regardless of whether or not the person’s death was due to COVID-19.
However, these types of prevention strategies are important to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Recognize that grieving is normal – it is ok to cry or be upset. Some actions you can take to help you cope with feelings of grief after the loss of a loved one include:
• Talk about your feelings with others who are willing to listen. Try connecting with a friend on the phone or video chat instead of in person.
• Tell others how you need to be supported… do you want people to call or leave you alone? Tell them.
• Allow yourself time to reflect on your feelings by writing in a journal, creating art or music, going for walks outdoors (while socially distancing), or talking to someone you trust.
• Take care of yourself! Eat healthy foods, get enough sleep, exercise regularly.
Develop a virtual memory book, blog, or webpage to remember the person you lost and ask family and friends to contribute their memories and stories.
• Take part in an activity that has significance to your lost loved one—like planting a tree or preparing one of their favorite meals—and then share it with them (by talking about how much they love steak, for example).
• Reach out to your religious organization for spiritual support and community. If you have a religious leader or minister in your life, reach out and ask them if you can call them every week or set up an online video call where you can share your thoughts and feelings.
Stigma hurts everyone
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the family and close friends of a person who died of COVID-19 may experience stigmas, such as social avoidance or rejection.
Stigma hurts everyone by creating fear or anger towards other people. Some people may avoid contacting you, your family members, and friends when they would normally reach out to you.
Stigma related to COVID-19 is less likely to occur when people know the facts and share them with extended family, friends, and others in your community.
If you are distressed from other types of Losses in this Covid-19 pandemic
During the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s normal to feel grief.
Many people feel grief over a loss of a job, a sense of community from religious organizations, and the ability to connect in person with friends and family.
Some people also grieve for missed milestones and special events (such as graduations, weddings, vacations), or due to dramatic changes in daily routines or ways of life that brought comfort.
It is also common for people to feel guilty about grieving over losses that seem less important than the loss of life. Grief is a universal emotion; there is no right or wrong way to experience it, and all losses are significant.
It's okay to grieve
We get it. Grieving is hard, and sometimes it feels like you’re never going to make it through, or that your life will never be the same again. And right now, with so much sadness in the world, it can feel even harder.
But we’re here to tell you that there is hope. We know this because we’ve seen it firsthand in our community of people who have experienced loss and learned how to cope with grief.
We’ve heard from people who felt lost with no hope of ever finding their way again, and who then found their way back by taking these steps:
- Acknowledge your losses and your feelings of grief.
- Find ways to express your grief. Some people express grief and find comfort through art, gardening, writing, talking to friends or family, cooking, music, gardening, or other creative practices.
- Consider developing new rituals in your daily routine to stay connected with your loved ones to replace those that have been lost. People who live together may consider playing board games and exercising together outdoors.
- People who live alone or are separated from their loved ones may consider interacting through phone calls and apps that allow for playing games together virtually.
- If you are concerned about future losses, try to stay in the present moment and concentrate on aspects of your life over which you have immediate control.
Get Bereavement counseling if needed
Grief is not easy.
But getting professional help can make it easier. Bereavement counseling is a rare type of professional help for people who are grieving the loss of someone they love. You may be able to find it through hospice services or a referral from a health care provider.
This type of counseling has been shown to reduce the level of distress that mourners go through after the death of their loved ones. It can help them move through the phases of grief. Bereavement counseling can also help them adjust to their new lives without the deceased.
You will do better, we hope. Time heals everything.
Please stay strong!.
