Grief - Professional Support

Professional Support

For many people, no professional support is needed. Some people, however, may decide to seek additional support from licensed psychologists or psychiatrists. Grief counseling, professional support groups or educational classes, and peer-led support groups are support resources available to the bereaved. In the United States, local hospice agencies may be a first contact for those seeking bereavement support.

It is important to know when grief has turned into something more serious, so that a medical professional should be contacted. According to MedlinePlus, grief can result in depression or alcohol and drug abuse and, if left untreated, it can become severe enough to impact daily living. A medical professional should be contacted if "you can’t deal with grief, you are using excessive amounts of drugs or alcohol, you become very depressed, or you have prolonged depression that interferes with your daily life." Other reasons to seek medical attention are "Can focus on little else but your loved one’s death, have persistent pining or longing for the deceased person, have thoughts of guilt or self-blame, believe that you did something wrong or could have prevented the death, feel as if life isn’t worth living, have lost your sense of purpose in life, wish you had died along with your loved one."

Professionals can use multiple ways to help someone cope and move through their grief. Litchtentahl and Cruess did a study looking at how Berevement-specific written disclosure had benefits in helping adjust to loss, and helping improve the effects of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), prolonged grief disorder, and depression. The Directed writing was helpful to many of the individuals who had experienced a loss of a significant relationship. They had individuals try to make meaning out of the loss first through sense meaning, (making sense of what happened and the cause of the death), and then through benefit meaning (Consideration of the global significance of the loss of one's goals, and helping the family develop a greater appreciation of life). This meaning making can come naturally for some but many need this direct intervention to move on.