Give Grief A Chance

This week my heart has felt heavy with the loss of a childhood friend. And the death of our friends can be just as painful as that of any loved one, even if you haven't seen that friend in a long time, knowing that they are no longer here can stir up a multitude of thoughts and emotions. Life is always a little bit different after someone you know and care about dies, and death reminds us that life is short so, we should enjoy the time we are given as much as we can. Sending love to all of my friends.

On this week's episode I'm offering five practical suggestions to help you cope with your grief and move toward healing. Let's face it, coping with the loss of a loved one or friend can be one of the hardest things many of us face, and even though loss is a natural part of life it can be very difficult for many of us to deal with. Grief is an emotional response to a loss and while emotions can be very consuming, they are not permanent states and this doesn't have to last forever.

How can you heal something if you can't identify it? This week's podcast is all about intangible losses, which are things like loss of safety, loss of trust, loss of security, loss of freedom. And, if you've experienced any of these types of loss you'll know that just because it's an intangible loss doesn't mean it isn't real and painful.

One of the first steps to healing is to accept, acknowledge, and name your emotions. Sadly, what we learn as a society is not how to work with our feelings but how to avoid them, and most of us do that pretty well. If you try to suppress your pain around loss, then your fighting a losing battle because, those emotions need to be expressed or you can lose it, explode, or have a nervous breakdown. Holding onto and blocking feelings will create symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression, in turn, that can cause physical problems such as headaches, heart disease, and insomnia, and we don't want that.

This week's Give Grief A Chance podcast is all about ways to help someone who's grieving. I'm offering suggestions of things you could do and things you should avoid. Let's face it, when someone you know and care about experiences a significant loss, they need your support more than ever, but for many people, it can be difficult to know what to say or what to do, as those intense emotions that the griever feels can make others feel very uncomfortable about stepping up and offering support.

Do you know that it's a very common response for people to feel anger after a loss. Sometimes anger comes when individuals are angry at a loved one for dying and leaving them to face life alone. You could be angry because you've been left with financial issues. You might feel anger toward a pet for running away. Or your angry at people not reaching out and helping you through your grief. Whatever your loss, you have the right to be angry and like any other emotion, anger needs to be felt and not rushed through. Come and listen to this week's episode as I offer a few suggestions to help you lessen those feelings of anger.

On this week's podcast I'm chatting with Dr Philip Lister who is an adult and child psychiatrist in a private practice in New York City. He is also the author of "A Good Short Life." Twenty five years ago at the age of four his daughter Liza became ill with leukemia and died at the age of six, since Liza's death Phil has been inspired through his love of writing to capture Liza's spirit and share her journey with his readers.

This week I'm chatting with a wonderful young woman Jessie Lestelle, who at the age of twenty five lost her entire immediate family. Jessie has found herself being called to share her story with the world and has created a podcast called 'Good Grief Jessie' where she only openly talks about her losses and her struggles with anxiety, depression, and PTSD plus, she interviews some very interesting people. Jessie is such an inspiration for us all, so tune in and listen to our chat.

Coping with loss is hard, and levels of grief experienced can feel so emotionally painful and there might be times when your grief feels more overwhelmingly unmanageable than usual. What can you do when that overwhelm hits you at the worst times? Find out by listening to today's podcast for a few helpful suggestions and techniques on how to deal with grief that feels overwhelming.

From the day we are born to the day we die our lives are filled with love of people, pets, places, and passions, and life is also filled with the loss of those things we so deeply love and care for. The grief that fills are hearts, drains our energy and numbs our body can make us feel so empty and lonely, after all grief is another form of love. Acknowledge your pain, give your grief a voice, and know that you never have to suffer through grief and loss alone.