Losing a Loved One: How to Deal with Depression

Losing a loved one is one of the hardest blows you ever have to deal with in your life. After all, you know that you are not going to see them again. It becomes worse when the deceased is someone you depended on all your life, such as your parents or your spouse. It is not going to be surprising anymore if you fall into depression.

Nevertheless, death should not be an excuse to linger into depression. As much as possible, you should pull yourself up and prevent yourself from getting embroiled in too much sadness and grief.

The following tips may prove helpful as you go through depression and grief:

1. Take it one step at a time. Every person has his or her own way of grieving. So there is no exact timeline on how long you should be sad. Nevertheless, your ultimate goal should be to relieve yourself of the pain and then move on with your life.

Just take everything one step at a time. In fact, live each day as if it is the only thing the matters. To help you keep yourself in the present, you can meditate. With meditation, you concentrate your mind into your own breathing, which is something you do at the present moment. Hence, even for just a while you have removed yourself from the worries and uncertainties of the future.

2. Keep yourself busy. You can grieve without really jeopardizing your daily activities. You may want to shorten the time you spend with them, but as much as you can, bring yourself to do a lot of things. When you are busy, you can hardly give yourself time to think about the reasons for the pain. Before you know it, you will realize you have not really found yourself sad for quite some time.

3. Go out with friends. Going out with friends does not really mean you are no longer grieving. Sometimes you just need people to be around you to make you feel secure and safe. You also need them to listen to your stories as a way of unloading yourself from the pain. You can grab a cup of coffee or invite them into your home.

4. Value your solitude. Do not worry about hurting others if you do not want to talk to them at some point. You also need to be alone, and you have to hold that precious time with great value. By being alone you will realize a lot of things.

5. Write about it. Counselors would often advise you to write your thoughts or create a journal. This is ideal if you cannot get hold of families and friends right away. You can also keep track of your progress. When your depression is over, you can discover what a strong person you are just by reading your journal.

6. Create affirmations. You may just need a little push. Create subliminal messages or affirmations. You can recite these subliminal messages anytime of the day, especially if you’re so down.

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