In a business forms of grief and loss often affect our employees. Whether it be an employee or family member passing, or even a divorce or change in job status. Understanding grief and loss is difficult, but if we are to get through these inevitable periods in life, some understanding of their situational dynamics can be helpful.
Grief and loss do not disappear once you step into the workplace. So although understanding grief and loss is difficult, if we are to get through these inevitable periods in life, some understanding of their situational dynamics can be helpful.
Grief and mourning:
• Grief is an internal response to a personal loss. We not only grieve a death but also an unexpected or severe loss.
• Mourning is an external response to loss, as defined by culture.
• Grief helps you to understand the significance of your loss. It is an essential part of the healing process.
• The important thing to remember is to be patient with your reactions. Life is not the same after a loss, and, inevitably, time is needed to adjust.
• There is no way around grief, just through it.
Examples of personal loss:
• Retirement can signify the loss of a role in life or a loss of a piece of one’s identity
• Divorce can signify the loss of a partner as well as the loss of our own role as a partner
No timetable for grief:
• To put it plainly, you must feel bad until you do not feel bad any longer, everyone experiences this emotion differently.
• Sometimes memories that have not risen to the surface in many months are suddenly triggered by a date on the calendar or a familiar song on the radio, and you will be in tears when you least expect it. Almost anything can remind you of your loss.
• Difficult as it is, you have to allow yourself to feel this pain. Suppressing the grief of loss can lead to psychological distress that will prolong your period of mourning.
Helpful tips if you or a loved one are feeling overwhelmed by grief:
• Try giving yourself a break – take time off from job or family obligations if possible.
• Confiding in a friend or relative can be a great comfort to a person in mourning.
• Some believe the more you talk about a loss, the less power it will have over you.
• In some cases people want to be with others, and in others people want to be alone.
• Family and friends can help those in mourning by being supportive either thru practical
means or by giving emotional reassurance.
• One can also provide assistance by lending a caring ear.
• It may help to keep a journal during a time of mourning.
• Some people are helped by grief counselors or psychologists.
Often, the end of one period of life is the beginning of another. As we grieve, it is important that we hold this thought in our minds. Adjusting to new conditions is always difficult, but with patience, understanding, and supportive friends and family, you will find yourself looking to the future with renewed anticipation.