After the loss of someone you love, has anyone ever said to you, it's time to "get over it" and move on with your life?

When we suffer the loss of someone we love we go through a time where we experience grief.     Grief comes to us in many and varied forms.   In working through grief it is important that we recognize it's symptoms, patterns and effects in our lives and in others so that we can make and promote healthy choices that will lead to a full functioning recovery.

Here are some of the more common feelings which you may encounter now and for the coming months. These are common and normal grief responses.

• Feeling emotionally numb.
• Knowing that death has occurred, but having difficulty believing that death has really happened.
• Having a loss of appetite or a desire to eat more than usual.
• Feeling restless and looking for activity and finding it difficult to concentrate and complete tasks.
• Having difficulty sleeping, waking early, and often dreaming of your loved one. Feeling exhausted and lacking in energy. Feeling mood changes over the slightest things.
• Feeling guilty for what was said or not said or for not having done enough for your loved one.
• Being angry or irritated at the wrong person or at the world.
• Feeling intensely angry at your loved one for leaving you.
• Having difficulty making decisions on your own.
• Feeling as though life has lost it's meaning.
• Not wanting to be with people or having difficulty initiating contact with others.
• Feeling self-pity and not feeling needed or wanted.

Again, these are common and normal grief responses.    Prayer and expressing your feelings to others can be helpful.    Spending time with caring people is also very beneficial in working through the effects of grief in our lives.