Hospice inevitably involves grief. Whether you are losing someone you love or you are the one approaching the end of your own life, you will be working through a challenging emotional reality.
Grief can be confusing and scary, especially if this is your first big loss. Below are some things that are helpful to know.
- Grief can start before a loss. Many people assume grief begins after someone dies. But it can start well before someone dies. This is called “anticipatory grief.” One can even grieve one’s own end of life.
- Everyone experiences and processes grief differently. Grief is a deeply individual experience, even though there are some common themes. There is no “right” or “wrong” way to experience it or cope with it.
- Guilt can accompany grief. Many people are caught off guard by sudden feelings of guilt when someone dies. They may worry they did not do enough, or struggle with unresolved matters from earlier in the relationship. This is a normal reaction to death, and there are ways one can ease or release the guilt they may feel.
- Grief can shake your beliefs. When you lose someone you love, it can alter your reality so deeply that closely cherished beliefs may waver or fail, causing existential doubts.
- You cannot measure grief. People may sometimes try to measure or compare grief for different losses. But grief is unquantifiable. There is no single type of relationship grief is always “worse” for.
- You may be worn out physically, and emotionally. Grief can be surprisingly exhausting physically, and emotionally. You may have a difficult time keeping up with your everyday tasks.
- Transformation is possible through grief. Losing a loved one is terrible, but it may surprise you that grief offers opportunities for transformation. While that does not lessen the loss, you may find yourself reassessing priorities or exploring a new direction in your life.
We Can Help Your Family During Hospice
We can provide you and your loved ones with support through this challenging time of grief. To find out more about we can help, please give us a call at (470) 395-6567. We care for patients and their families throughout the Atlanta area.
We live by the Golden Rule
Treat others the way you would like to be treated.
