Grief Bereavement Loss

Most people experience grief when they lose something or someone important to them. If these feelings are affecting your life, there are things you can try that may help.

Support is also available if you're finding it hard to cope with stress, anxiety or depression.

Symptoms of bereavement, grief and loss

Bereavement, grief and loss can cause many different symptoms and they affect people in different ways. There's no right or wrong way to feel.

As well as bereavement, there are other types of loss such as the end of a relationship or losing a job or home.

Some of the most common symptoms include:

• shock and numbness - this is usually the first reaction to loss, and people often talk about "being in a daze"
• overwhelming sadness, with lots of crying
• tiredness or exhaustion
• anger - towards the person you've lost or the reason for your loss
• guilt - for example, guilt about feeling angry, about something you said or did not say, or not being able to stop your loved one dying

These feelings may not be there all the time and powerful feelings may appear unexpectedly.

It's not always easy to recognise when bereavement, grief or loss are the reason you're acting or feeling differently.

Things you can try to help with bereavement, grief and loss

Further information and support

You can find further information and support about:

• grief and bereavement on the Cruse website
• losing your partner or child in pregnancy
• losing someone to suicide on the Mind website

The GOV.UK website also has information about what to do after someone dies, such as registering the death and planning a funeral.

Referring yourself for therapy

If you need more support, you can get free talking therapies such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) on the NHS.

You can refer yourself directly to a talking therapies service without a referral from a GP.

Find an NHS talking therapies service

If you're under 18, or want to get help for someone under 18, find out how to get mental health support for children and young people.

See a GP if:

Call 111 or ask for an urgent GP appointment if:

Call 999 or go to A&E now if:

Prolonged grief disorder

For most people grief will become less intense over time. But for some people, grief lasts many months or years. This is known as prolonged grief disorder or complicated grief.

Symptoms of prolonged grief disorder include:

• very difficult feelings such as sadness or guilt for over 6 months
• spending a lot of time thinking about the person who's died
• difficulty accepting the death
• not being able to return to everyday activities
• suicidal thoughts

You're more likely to have prolonged grief disorder if the death was traumatic or sudden and unexpected.

See a GP if:

Find out more about prolonged grief disorder on the Cruse website

If you want to find out more about this particular topic you can visit the Original article on the NHS website. If you are worried by any aspect of your health make sure you go and see your doctor or book an appointment at your local clinic.