When you experience a loss, you may need to seek a grief counselor in order to help you deal with your grief. That is a decision that you have to make because you are the only one who truly knows how you are doing, but how do you know when grief counseling is appropriate or when you are just grieving and it will pass? Continue reading to learn about the symptoms that could happen that suggest you should consider finding a counselor.
Social Symptoms
- Extreme exhaustion has left you with the inability to get out of bed.
- You are having trouble performing day to day activities and responsibilities for yourself or your family.
- You avoid social situations or contact with others.
Emotional Symptoms
- Extreme depression sucks your energy and your happiness away.
- You aren't feeling any grief or expressing any sad emotion.
- Your grief reactions are extreme.
- You haven't felt happy in a while.
- You experience panic attacks or irrational fears or have developed new phobias.
- You constantly replay the loved one's death or the moment you found out.
- You ache to see your loved one again and the feeling won't go away.
- You are easily aggravated, irritated, or frusrated and are more hostile than ever before.
Physical Symptoms
- Fatigue and depression will not go away.
- You have experienced a significant change in your weight, either a gain or a loss.
- Your body is creating physical reactions to your grief, including headaches, physical pain, or stomachaches.
- Your sleep is regularly disturbed by nightmares or memories.
Behavioral Symptoms
- Your desire to be isolated gets worse with time.
- You avoid anything that reminds you of your lost loved one.
- You have no interest in anything that you once enjoyed.
- You have suicidal thoughts or tendencies.
- Self-destructive behavior including medications, alcohol, and drugs (illegal and prescription) has become a part of your daily life.
It is important to note that some of the symptoms in the social, emotional, and physical category can be normal grieving symptoms as long as you aren't experiencing them long after your loss. You should be able to grieve, but improve over time. So one big indicator that you need help coping is that you feel the same way you did the day you lost your loved one.
If you are experiencing any of the symptoms, you should discuss them with your doctor and seek out a grief counselor. Losing a loved one can cause extreme devastation, and there is nothing wrong with finding help, such as through Gillies Funeral Chapel, to help you cope.
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