It can be very difficult to return work after a loss. It is hard to refocus and find oneself. Grief and loss can alter one’s reality and make it difficult to return to routine with the new change in life. One must learn to adjust and alter their life to fit the loss but this can take time.
Returning to work after grief can be difficult. Please also review our Grief Counseling Program and see if it meets your academic goals
The article, “5 Tips for Returning to Work When Grieving” by Stella Ryne looks at ways one can better adjust to life at work after a loss.
“Going back to work should be seen as something positive. However, it should be done slowly and gradually. Talk to your boss about it, ask him if it would be okay to start working half a day the first couple of days until you settle back into the routine.”
Pandemics and world crisis can leave the entire world in grief. When is it ok during these hours of worldwide crisis to grieve one’s own losses? It is important to grieve with the world but also to find time to grieve for oneself as well. Many brave healthcare workers have to work through grief as they work to save thousands from death.
When society is grieving and the world is broken, it is hard to find time to grieve. Please also review our Grief Counseling Program
The article, “In a World Filled With Loss, Who Gets to Grieve?”from ‘Whats Your Grief” looks at individual grief that can be loss in the collective grief of a broken world. The article states,
“Considering the circumstances, you might even see your grief as having a higher purpose. Right now, people are going through horrible, traumatic, earth-shattering things. And when this is all over, they’re going to need to find support in a grieving world. So now, more than ever, we have to maximize our capacity for compassion – and this doesn’t mean denying ourselves of it. ”
Grieving is an ongoing process throughout life. Some steps take one into a unhealthy direction while healthy grieving learns to accept the loss and correlate it to the meaning of the present. This does not magically mean the pain vanishes. The pain of grief will always be present. Losing someone has a steep price. With great love comes great grief when that person is removed. This is a natural reaction to loss, but this does not mean one cannot adjust, while grieving, in healthy ways.
Resiliency is a key component in grief support. Please also review our Grief Counseling Certification
One can show resilience overtime through healthy grief practices that remember the loss and pain but also celebrate the love and person. Examples can include a variety of things that include remembrance of good times, memorials, and new traditions in honors of the deceased.
The article, “What I Learned About Resilience in the Midst of Grief” by Lucy Hone looks at resiliency in grieving. She states,
“In a study investigating U.S. college students’ responses to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Fredrickson found that certain people showed resilience. What was their secret? Experiencing positive emotions buffered resilient people against depression and was the active ingredient that helped them thrive.”
Resiliency is key after loss. It does not come easy. Some are more resilient naturally while others have better support. Ultimately, the ability to be resilient can help one find a healthier meaning in loss and be better equipped to adjust to that loss. Grief Counselors need to be able to help individuals utilize their grief in a more active and healthy fashion throughout the grieving process. This will enable the grieving to better put the loss in correlation with the present narrative of life. It will also allow the griever to express loss in a more positive fashion. Please also review our Grief Counseling Certification and see if it matches your academic and professional goals.
Hidden depression can sometimes be so well disguised that one does not even notice that one’s life has become sad and grey. Hidden depression is also chronic in nature. It has not true reason. One has a difficult time diagnosing why one does not feel well or right.
Depression can sometimes be hidden. One lives life but still feels incomplete. Please also review our Grief Counseling Program
Hidden depression can make individuals less social and push them more into a introvert like stance. Professional life may flourish but personal life suffers. Others may also experience a constant nagging of perfectionism where one is not good enough in anything one does. Also others exhibit difficulty expressing complex emotions and find fulfillment in only completion of tasks.
The article, “When Your Depression Is Perfectly Hidden (Even from Yourself)” by Margarita Tartakovsky, M.S, looks at many more symptoms and explains the reality of hidden depression. She states,
“Natalie’s depression doesn’t resemble what we typically think of depression: a heavy, chilling darkness that siphons a person’s energy and prevents them from getting out of bed. And yet it’s just as serious, exhausting, and devastating.”
Please also review our Grief Counseling Program for healthcare and behavioral health professionals. The program trains professionals in the necessities of helping others cope and work through grief
Most grief reactions are a result of an acute loss. Even then, most reactions are not labeled as pathological. Pathological reactions are associated with depression. Acute grief reactions can become pathological through depression but the depression has a cause, namely loss. However, chronic depression is chemical in nature. It has no true reason for the state of mind.
Chronic depression can make everyday seem like a cloudy dark day. Please also review our Grief Counseling Certification
Chronic depression is continual or comes and goes consistently. The person may feel bad everyday, over eat to hide emotion, possess irregular sleep patterns, or feel in general worthless. This type of state of mind requires clinical help from a licensed professional counselor. Many licensed professional counselors also possess a certification in grief counseling and even possess a more indepth knowledge of the depression
The article, “Let’s Talk About Chronic Depression” by Meirav Devash discusses many of the symptoms and reasons for chronic depression. The article states,
“People with PDD experience depressed mood for a period of two years or longer, and two or more of the additional symptoms below. Your symptoms would be distressing and affect daily functioning, and you’d never be without them for more than two months at a time.”
Men traditionally find grief as a vulnerability. From an evolutionary standpoint, men must be strong and a source of protection for the family. This physical stereotype has led to an emotional abandonment of displaying grief among many men. The right way to grieve for men has been handed down through generations with ideas that “real men do not cry”, or that crying is a sign of weakness. This “John Wayne” type persona has dominated Western thought regarding social images of men.
At an early age, boys are taught the proper method of grieving according to gender and social constructs. These constructs can be emotionally stunting for the grief process.
Men have been taught to hold in their grief and grieve alone in solace. They have been shamed when tears are shown and called weak if they displayed sadness. Many men have not been able to grieve in healthy ways hence emotionally stunted their recovery from loss.
Individuals grieve differently. Some may not wish to express emotion but to simply repress emotion based upon a stereotype can be emotionally damaging.
Instead of slogans that “real men do not cry”, many have pushed that true strength is a man who can show tears and emotion. Weeping over loss is not a female only right, but also a human right. While cultures and society may create images of how men should grieve through cultural rites or movies, men need to become that grieving and weakness and are not correlated. Grieving is a natural process that everyone endures and expressing grief makes no man any less a man than the next.
The article, “How Men Grieve” by Jackson Rainer takes a deeper look into how men grieve and social perspectives surrounding it. He states,
“Men tend to lean toward the instrumental expression of grief, orienting to emotional control, a disinclination to talk about matters of the heart, to default into solitude rather than connection and to focus on action more than talk. I fall squarely in this masculine camp.”
Men and women grieve differently. This does not mean men who cry should be seen as weak. It is important to grieve and express if one feels the need. This does not make one less of a man but allows the man to grieve in a conducive way
The article does an excellent job in explaining how men grieve instrumentally, or through physical and cognitive ways, while women are taught to grieve intuitively through emotion. While both ways are equal processes of grief, the danger arises when individual grievers are socially assigned a proper way to grieve simply based on their gender. Boys and girls are taught the right way to grieve and see sometimes bad examples of grief behavior in both women and men. These bad grief behaviors later translate to future problems for the children when they reach adulthood.
To learn more about grieving or if you would like to become a certified grief counselor, then please review AIHCP’s Grief Counseling Certification and see if it matches your academic and professional goals.
The death of a celebrity, or a national tragedy can bring society closer together. It can unite society in tears and also help others question their own reality. The levels of grief and despair vary greatly. Hence reactions vary in extremity.
Collective and social grief emerges when a a universal tragedy occurs. The epicenter of the grief reaction obviously is correlated with the connection to the person or event. Hence, when a national catastrophe occurs, those with more personal investment in the people or area will react more sincerely in a true grief reaction, while others who may be empathetic but not directly related, will experience a more indirect grief reaction.
Social grief can emerge collectively in a nation over the death of a famous person, politician or sports star. They are seen as heroes and can bring a nation together into mourning
Society as a whole will react to a loss. For example, the most recent loss of Basketball Great, Kobe Bryant is a stinging loss to many and a reality check for many others. Whenever anyone dies unexpectedly, individuals react to some extent. Some may lose little sleep due to the distance of connection, but the idea of death and its reality always stings. When the person is famous and not just a mere name, it resonates with the subconscious. Whether there is emotional investment or not, the death of someone famous reinforces the idea that death happens unexpectedly and can happen to anyone, even oneself.
This is the first and most remote reaction to the loss of a famous individual. The reminding that anyone can die at any moment. This may force one to re-evaluate their own life, relations with others, or future goals. A famous person is just not anyone in the news but a person, for better or worst, that plays a key social role.
The social role that one plays to the individual will reflect the grief reaction. Fame is a way of knowing, but it is not true knowing. Yet, even though it is not the knowing of friendship, it still creates an aspect of knowing, where that famous individual has touched the person in some way. While it is not a reciprocal process such as friendship, the reality of the famous person’s influence on others is a reality. It is an imbalance but still creates a subjective connection on the part of the fan or everyday person who witnesses this person on television. While in some cases, there can be a pathological obsession and grief over-reaction to a person one does not personally know, there is definitely a reality that denotes value of that person.
The death of the famous, may not make all grieve, but it will definitely remind all of the nature of death and fragile nature of life
And this is not obsession. Famous individuals, whether in sports, entertainment, or politics have social value. That value is what joy or status they give to one as a collective whole. A king or queen’s death represents a national death and can affect millions. Losing a sports figure, can be a great loss to a fan base that revered the player as a hero. These are not pathological reactions but true losses at different varying subjective levels.
For some though, the loss may be meaningless. If a singer dies suddenly that had no impact upon an individual, then only the reality that someone famous died resonates, but for a person who considered the singer and his or her songs to be instrumental to his or life passes, then the impact is far greater and even more personal. It is ultimately very subjective how much someone who is famous plays a part in one’s life. While it may seem silly to some, or obsessive to mourn someone you may have never met or only seen from the distance, it still does not equate to pathology but a true human connection. Again, where subjectively draws the line to a pathological grief reaction and a normal reaction is a cloudy line.
The loss of a famous person, while not personal in nature, is subjective in nature and is correlated to the role the person’s message played in the griever’s life and development
For instance, Kobe Bryant’s death has reminded everyone collectively of the fragile nature of life. His death has also brought the basketball community to tears. However, as one approaches the epicenter of the loss, proportionate grief reactions are seen more intense. The friendship Kobe had with teammates and family is obviously greater than that of a distant fan. The love between his parents, wife and children is also far more intense. Kobe is not an image to these individuals but a true reciprocal relationship. Kobe’s closest family did not lose a mere name or symbol, but a husband, father and son.
If grief reactions from fans or the national collective match the intensity of close family and friends, then one may have to consider the attachment to Kobe and the grief reaction to be obsessive and pathological. Yet, to merely admonish someone for grieving the loss of a famous individual is wrong and simply bad grief counseling. It is healthy to socially grieve a sports hero but it has to be proportionate. Grief Counselors need to identify what is healthy and not healthy in this type of social grief.
With social media discussing his death everywhere there are bound to be ignorant comments and reactions. Some will come from individuals who fear death itself and prefer to ignore it or hide it by dismissing Kobe. There will be those who downplay it and criticize others for grieving the loss. Others will dismiss Kobe and say, others should only grieve real heroes, like soldiers. These dismissive snubs and rude remarks are a result of inner issues or reactions to arise responses from others regarding Kobe’s death. They will seek to escape the story of his death and troll other social media users.
In the social media age though, this is what occurs when news happens. There is naturally an over flooding of content of which is sure to upset some. Some individuals will post and post about an event. Others within the news or light of society, will try to make memes about the death of an individual. Many are attempting to memorialize the event. Others may be over reaching and creating more drama than necessary. Hence, one will see in deaths, a rift between the over dramatic and the acrimonious. Where one will over dramatize the event, while the other downplays the death with sarcastic remarks.
While it is natural to grieve the loss of a famous individual, there can be pathological and obsessive grief reactions not correlated with the relationship with the person
Why is Kobe’s death more impactful? Why are the unknown people that die not recognized at such a dramatic and universal level? Why is the death of a soldier not mourned more universally than the death of a star? One is never dismissing the death of anyone, especially soldiers or others who may have died, with Kobe, in the tragic helicopter accident, but when famous people die, people notice. Maybe not due to importance of the person personally, or that this person did more or did less, but because famous people are known. A known individual, important or not, touches everyone. How it touches one may vary, but it nonetheless touches. A soldier’s death clearly is more impactful than a mere stranger. While the soldier is not personally known, he collectively represents our national heroes, but the impact of a famous person’s death may resonate deeper because that person is known. Whether this occurs for everyone or not depends on their military up-bringing, level of patriotism, and values. Obviously, a soldier’s death is far more important to the nation, but in regards to attachment, fame can make one feel closer.
Social grief is most intense when the death is of a famous person who is also a national hero. Here we have true objective importance to the entire nation and also the fame that allows subjective attachments to form. Please also remember to review our Grief Counseling Certification
This is probably why the death of a famous military leader, war hero, or king garnishes the most acknowledgement in society. It captures true objective importance and also the subjective relationships formed by the masses regarding the individual.
How the person touched you, even though it was never a friendship, depends on the value the person played in your life and what that person contributed socially to the nation and society, or to your own personal views and development. Hence, grief, even over someone you never met, is justified. The reaction though to not be pathological must be proportionate.
For one person, a particular singer may have created a song so important to the person’s life that it encouraged him or her on the darkest days. For another person, the magical shot Kobe hit that lifted the Lakers to another title, may have been a cherished moment with a father and son. These moments are not replaceable and play a key role in the person’s life narrative and when the person who shared in it, passes away, it creates a reaction. Famous individuals whether in a reciprocal relationship or not can sometimes unknowingly play an important part in someone’s life.
Grief Counselors must be careful not to judge those who grieve the loss of famous individuals but also must monitor appropriate grief reactions that are not a result of a unhealthy and obsessive bond. Please also review our Grief Counseling Certification program and see if it matches your academic and professional goals.
Whether pathological reactions, bitter reactions, or true sad social reactions proportionate to the death exist, there will always be reactions to the death of a famous person in any social sphere because it forces one to wrestle with the notion of death.
If you would like to learn more about Grief Counseling or would like to become certified in Grief Counseling then please review the American Academy of Grief Counseling’s certification program and see if it matches your academic and professional goals. The Grief Counseling Certification is a four year certification and open to behavioral health and healthcare professionals. The program is also open to those in ministry and care of the grieving.
Seasonal depression in January is very common. The festivities of the previous year and holidays are over and one is left with the grey, cold and dreary reality of January. With less sun and light, it is naturally a depressive setting. One who is already sad or even one who is mentally drained, or become sick may succumb to a type of seasonal depression.
The winter blues can play a big role in seasonal depression. Please also review our Grief Counseling Program
It is important to notice if you are slipping into a seasonal depression and if needed seek help, but there are ways to cope with the January blues. It is encouraged to remain physical active at a gym and find time to keep oneself in shape. Staying in shape can give pride and self esteem to a dreary setting. Also, consider a hobby to keep busy or a social group to be part of. Favorite shows or special treats are also a way to keep oneself happy. Go out to eat more or go to a movie. Try to make a normal dreary weekday special by doing something!
The article, “‘Blue Monday’ Depression Peak Isn’t Real, But Seasonal Blues Are. Here’s What Do To About Them” from CBS Baltimore looks more at the idea of seasonal depression, especially in regards the third Monday of January. The article states,
“There is generally more sadness in the winter time and January is not uncommon at all for overall more sadness among folks,” said Dr. Ravi Shah, a psychiatrist at Irving Medical Center at Columbia University. “So rather than dial in to one specific day, I think the more interesting question is what it is about the winter that affects our mood.”
Whether a certain day can be more depressing or not is less likely but what is likely that winter in general can depress many people. Some can stay above it and cope better than others but others need help and motivation. Please also review our Grief Counseling Program and see if it meets your academic and professional goals.
On many occasions driven individuals reach an emotional dead end. They can no longer proceed forward and became mentally fatigued. This is referred to as burn out. When an individual burns out they no longer feel the drive or energy to keep doing what they had been doing. This type of burn out can be triggered by a host of things. Usually it is due to putting too much on one’s shoulders and agenda to carry. It then takes easily one thing to make the entire body crumble under the stress. Some question is this type of burnout a type of depression?
Professional burn out can occur to those who push too many boundaries. Is there a big difference between depression and burnout? Please also review our Grief Counseling Certification program
The article, “Is Burnout Actually a Form of Depression? by Grant Brenner looks at how individuals can balance work and life without dismissing the possibility of clinical depression. He states,
“The distinction between burnout and depression is blurry, distracted by impassioned debate. The World Health Organization presents depression and burnout as serious problems — one as a medical illness, and the other as the result of professional factors. Yet they are similar, and depression has been around much longer.”
It is very important to understand one’s mental, emotional and physical barriers. In acknowledging limitations, one can prevent possible burnout or depression. Please also review our Grief Counseling Certification and see if it matches your academic and professional goals.
Grief at work can lead to lack of production but it cannot be ignored. It is important that it is addressed to not only benefit the business but to also help the employee. Employers need to be understanding, flexible and know what to expect from their employee. This requires leadership and sometimes a listening ear. It requires a temporary adjustment potentially. While large factories are less equipped to notice the needs of an individual, unions and friends should be aware. Smaller businesses have the luxory and ability to better address the needs of the individual.
A depressed employee needs care and understanding so he can return to productivity. Please also review our Grief Counseling Program
It is critical to not only help the employee emotionally but also to help them adjust for the benefit of the business itself. While one does not wish to put money over emotion, there comes a time when the employee must learn to cope and play his or her part in the process, but without the understanding and leadership from good managers, this can be quite a hard thing.
The article, “How to Manage an Employee with Depression” by Kristen Bell DeTienne, Jill M. Hooley, Cristian Larrocha and Annsheri Reay look at the problems of depression and how a manager can help an employee at work who is suffering from depression. They state,
“Yet despite this enormous and growing toll, many employers take an ad hoc approach to handling depression among employees. Many managers become aware of mental health issues only when they investigate why a team member is performing poorly. A better scenario would be if employees felt empowered to report a mental health problem and ask for a reasonable accommodation so that their manager can intervene to minimize the damage to the organization and help the employees return as quickly as possible to full health.”
Employers who are more considerate to depression and the mental health of their employees are not only showing compassion but also good business sense. Employees are a company’s top resource and making sure they are happy and productive is critical to success. Please also review our Grief Counseling Program and see if it meets your academic and professional goals.
