Coping With The Symptoms and Stages of The Grieving Process

 

Death and the grieving process are a sad and unfortunate part of the human experience. Losing someone you love and who played an important role in your life produces a pain that cannot be easily described. No two people experience the grieving process exactly the same. There is no timeframe for grieving, and some individuals may feel like the pain they are experiencing will never go away. Since the grieving process is unique to every single person, there is no right or wrong way to grieve. There are some healthy coping skills that can help as you to deal with the pain and the sense of loss that accompanies the grieving process. These coping techniques can help you feel reinvigorated and give you the strength you need to continue on.

 

Understanding the Stages of Grief

Grieving is a natural response to loss. It is experienced when a person loses a loved in death, loses their health, a cherished dream, a friendship, or suffers a divorce or the breakup of a relationship. When the loss is significant, the feeling of grief will be stronger. Grief is broken into five stages. These stages are:

• Denial: Disbelief that a tragedy is affecting you.


• Anger: Attempting to understand why a situation is happening and assigning blame.


• Bargaining: During this stage, a person may make promises or resolutions in an attempt to negotiate with the impending tragedy.


• Depression: A person may feel too sad to do anything.


• Acceptance: Feeling at peace with what happened.

 

Dealing with Symptoms Associated with Grief

For some individuals, the grieving process is less of a series of stages and instead a roller coaster of emotions. There are ups and there are downs. Usually, the most intense emotions are felt in the days and weeks immediately following the loss. Some symptoms of grief include shock and disbelief. It can be difficult to accept what is happening, especially during the early stages of grieving. Sadness and guilt along with fear and anger are often experienced by grieving individuals. It is not uncommon for a person to have physical symptoms such as fatigue, weight loss, lower immunity, and nausea in response to grief.

 

Finding Support During Periods of Grief

For some, the natural reaction to experiencing grief is to close themselves off from the world and to try to deal with the sadness and feeling of loss on their own. However, finding support from friends, family members, support groups, religious faith, and grief counselors is essential in order to successfully cope with the pain and sadness grief brings.

Unfortunately, at one time or another every single one of us will experience circumstances that will cause us to grief. Understanding the grieving process, understanding the symptoms of grief, and knowing where to turn to for emotional support can make the painful grieving process a little bit easier.

 

Informational Credit to Cornerstone Hospice and Palliative Care

 

Categories: Coping, grieving, stages, Symptoms

Helping a Loved One Cope with Addiction and Mental Illness

Helping a loved one with both a substance abuse and a mental health problem can be a roller coaster for your wellbeing, as well as your relationship. It’s common for a sufferer of these co-occurring problems to resist treatment, which gives you both a very long road to recovery. This is why the first thing you have to learn is how to accept what you can and cannot do. There’s no way you can force a loved one to remain sober, nor can you make them take their medication or keep their appointments. The only thing you can do is make positive choices for yourself, keep on encouraging your loved one to get help, an offer support as much as you can without losing yourself in the process.

 

Once you’ve got that mindset in place, there are other helpful tips to follow when helping your loved one deal with substance abuse and a mental health problem:

 

1. Get support for yourself: While your main goal here is to support someone else, dealing with a loved one’s dual diagnosis of mental illness and substance abuse can be painful and isolating. Healthy relationships are based on give-and-take, but your loved one’s dual problem is probably preventing them from giving you what you need, even though you’re doing your best for them. Therefore, it’s vital that you make sure you’re getting the emotional support you need to cope. This can be as simple as talking to someone you trust about what you’re going through, but some people find it helpful to go to therapy or join a support group. Do whatever works best for you, just make sure you’re not alone.

 

2. Set boundaries: While emotional support can help give you the strength you need to care for your loved one as much as possible, that’s not to say that you should put your all into supporting your loved one. When it comes to providing care for someone with a substance abuse and mental health problem, you need to be realistic about how much you can do without becoming overwhelmed or resenting your loved one. Obviously, this is a close friend or family member, and so you can jump into caring for them without thinking of yourself. However, you need to set limits on disruptive behaviours, and stick to them. Letting the co-occurring disorders take over your life isn’t healthy for you or your loved one, so make sure those boundaries are clear.

 

3. Learn more: In order to be an effective source of support and care for your loved one, you need to educate yourself on the problems they’re facing. The combination of a substance abuse and a mental health problem means that your loved one isn’t likely to be in the right state of mind for proactive education, but this is where you can help immensely. The more you understand what your loved one is going through – including the mental health problem, substance abuse treatment and recovery – the better able you’ll be to support the process.

 

4. Be patient: No matter how much you do or learn – or how well you do it – your loved one isn’t going to recover overnight. Not only does he or she have an abuse problem to deal with, which can be a long road to wellness for any individual, your loved one also has to learn how to cope with mental health issues also. Bear in mind that relapses are common during this process, as recovery is an ongoing thing that can take months or years. As you work towards recovery together, ongoing support for both you and your loved one is crucial.

Categories: Coping, Emotional Support, health problem, long road, mental, Mental Health, mental illness, process nbsp, substance abuse, Support

Coping With Diabetes:5 Tips That Will Make Life More Comfortable

Diabetes is a condition that affects 18.2 million people in America. It can lead to life-threatening complications, but fortunately, you can prevent complications by managing this condition. Below are some tips that will help you manage your diabetes:

 

Eat Healthy Foods

Eating healthy will make it a lot easier for you to keep your blood sugar within the target range. You should talk to your health care provider about the right meal plan for you. However, health care providers typically recommend that diabetics follow a diet that is filled with vegetables, fruits, whole grains and low in salt, sugar and saturated fat.

 

Exercise

Exercise helps lower your blood sugar. It also helps increase your body’s sensitivity to insulin. You should try to exercise for 30 minutes per day most days out of the week. Keep in mind that daily activities, such as gardening or housework, can also help lower your blood sugar.

 

Monitor Your Blood Sugar Frequently

One of the keys to preventing complications is to keep your blood sugar as close to the normal range as possible. That is why it is important for you to monitor your blood sugar throughout the day. You will need to check your blood sugar when you get up in the morning, before and after meals and before and after you exercise. You should also check your blood sugar before and after you take your medication and/or insulin.

 

Wear the Right Socks

Taking care of your feet will prevent them from becoming injured or infected. Did you know that you an buy special socks for diabetics? Diabetic socks like those at HJ Sock Group help improve blood circulation and keep the feet dry. You’ll also want to pair your socks with a comfortable shoe that doesn’t squeeze or rub your foot.

 

Keep Your Stress Level Down

Stress is an inevitable part of life, but you should try to keep your stress level as low as possible. Stress can cause your blood sugar level to rise. It can also weaken your immune system. Reading, going for a walk and meditating are some of the ways that you can manage your stress.

 

Brush And Floss Every Day

You are more prone to gum disease if you have diabetes. You are also more likely to develop diabetic complications if you have gum disease. That is why you want to make sure that you brush and floss regularly so that you can avoid problems with your gums, teeth and mouth. Dentists recommend that patients come for checkups every six months which is especially important if you have diabetes so you can monitor your oral health and resolve any problems that may arise.

 

Living with diabetes can be hard, but there are things that can be done to make it easier. Of course if your doctor has prescribed you any medications or insulin, you will want to follow the recommended doses on those. In addition to your medical routines, keep in mind the healthy habits listed so that you can avoid complications and live a comfortable life.

Categories: Blood, Blood Sugar, complications, Coping, Diabetes, Gum Disease, health care, life, nbsp, stress level, Sugar

Could Stress be Giving You Gastrointestinal Reflux?

If you suffer from health concerns associated with gastro reflux disease (GERD), you may have noticed that it acts up more when your mental and emotional wellness and wellbeing are under strain. You may have noticed, for example, that your GERD plays up at all the worst times, such as when you have a job interview, when you are giving a speech at a big event or when you are hosting a big family get together. This is most likely because stress can have a strong effect on the symptoms of reflux.

 

Unlike hot chilli sauce or orange juice, which are food triggers for reflux, stress cannot be easily avoided. There are some coping techniques that you can use to help settle your stomach, however, and you should remain aware of trying to lower your stress levels where possible, for your physical and emotional health. A survey was carried out which highlighted this link between stress and heartburn. During the study, women reported that stressful family situations made their symptoms worse, whilst men in the study said that long working hours or business trips made them more susceptible to the symptoms of acid reflux. Researchers also noted that exhaustion in particular was linked to a worsening of symptoms.

 

Adopting coping techniques is definitely the way forward when it comes to gastro reflux, and a vast number of other health conditions, as stress can also be linked to stroke, heart disease, obesity, depression and IBS. Coping techniques should always include exercise. Exercise helps to stimulate the release of the natural happy hormones. It also helps to loosen up tight muscles and gives you some thinking space just for you. Yoga, meditation or tai chi can also be helpful, as they may focus on the mind and get rid of all the busy thoughts that can build up problems into more than they are and make you feel stressed.

Categories: Coping, coping techniques, gastro reflux, reflux, stomach, Stress, Symptoms, techniques