ROdown Blog

Monday: Getting Real Session on Grief

Grief, loss and change. Three words that can make your emotions feel uncontrollable and leave you feeling empty and uncertain. This is pretty normal. My initial reaction when even thinking about these words is to run and keep on running.

Grief is overwhelming. You may not want to believe what is happening is real. It’s hard to grasp that you may never see or talk to that person again.

Loss reminds me of entering high school. I lost my best friend as she went a different school. The same year my dog ran away. Many years later I lost myself. My depression took away my identity. I didn’t recognise myself anymore.

Change belongs in my purse- definitely not in my life. Change brings uncertainty and the unknown. Fear and anxiety levels increase. My heart will beat faster and faster. I get confused between resisting change and embracing it.

We are taught many things in life that help us survive, but we are not taught everything as they do not occur every day. Sometimes we have to experience things like grief, loss and change in order to learn how to deal with them. It can be trial and error and it will vary person to person.

So what can we do to cope when these things impact on our lives?

There are some really helpful factsheets, stories and blogs on RO:

On Grief:

Suggestions for managing grief: http://au.reachout.com/find/articles/suggestions-for-managing-grief

Working through your grief: http://au.reachout.com/find/articles/working-through-your-grief

On Loss:

When a relationship is ending: http://au.reachout.com/find/articles/when-a-relationship-is-ending

On Change:

Dealing with change: http://au.reachout.com/connect/blog/dealingwithchange

Infobus - Change: http://forums.reachout.com/showthread.php?87-Infobus-Session-on-CHANGE-30-9-10

Also, tonight, at 8pm AEST we will be discussing ways to cope with change, loss and grief during our Getting Real session on the Reach Out Forums.

Jump on to the forums and let's talk about the stuff we are not always taught in school. Let's learn some new ways to deal with the hard things in life.

http://forums.reachout.com/showthread.php?1433-Life-s-challenges-Change-loss-and-grief...-8PM-AEST-22-August-2011

By Stace, ReachOut.com Youth Ambassador