Bereavement is the experience of losing someone who is important to you. Losing someone can be emotionally devastating and grief is the process and range of emotions someone might go through as they gradually adjust to the loss.
There are many different types of grief, there is no right or wrong way to feel, and we all react in our own way. There are many different types of grief, and it’s natural to have a strong reaction to someone dying. Here are some emotions you might feel after someone dies:
- Shock and Numbness: you might feel like you are in shock, disoriented, or numb and like nothing has changed. This is because it can take time to process what has happened.
- Pain: if someone close to you dies, it can be very painful. These feelings can be frightening and upsetting, and some people have described it as being cut in two or losing a part of themselves.
- Anger: death can seem cruel and unfair. You might feel angry at the person who died, angry at others, or even angry at yourself for things that you did or didn’t do when they were alive.
- Guilt: you might feel guilty if you had a difficult relationship, or if you feel directly or indirectly to blame for the persons death. Try to remember that it’s very unlikely you could have done anything to prevent the death from happening and try not to be hard on yourself.
- Depression: you might feel like nothing matters, or like you don’t want to go on living. If you feel like you might act on suicidal feelings, please talk to someone- contact the Samaritans on 116 123, or call 999 in an emergency.
- Seeing and hearing the person: you might find that you cant stop thinking about the events leading up to your loved ones death, and you might think you can hear or see the person who has died. This is normal and can happen because our brain is trying to process the death.
- Physical feelings: grief affects the body as well as the mind, it might feel difficult to eat and sleep, and it might make you very anxious. Normally, feelings of physical pain will ease with time, but try and get as must rest as you can and listen to what your body needs.
Remember- you are not alone, there are so many places for support, all it takes is reaching out.