Grief During the Holidays
With the holiday season beginning, it can be very common to experience grief. It can not only be hard to understand but also challenging to recognize. The Lemons team sat down with Maryellen Dance, a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, professor, and host of the Okay-ish Podcast, to learn more about holiday grief.
Symptoms of Grief
Anxiety about gatherings or seeing certain people
Feeling numb or detached
Experiencing apathy
For example: finding yourself asking “what’s the point of all of this?” in reference to decorating for the holidays, going to holiday parties, etc
Inability to concentrate or focus on tasks
Pushing people away
Strategies for pushing through and coping with grief
Acknowledging that you may have grief
Understand that you don’t have to fake happiness
It’s okay to sit in your sadness, but don’t live there!
Understand what you need
Make an effort to be around people you love if it makes you feel good - being alone is not good when you’re coping with grief
Remember that it is okay to say no to gatherings if that is triggering to you
Try to plan distractions if you feel grief coming on
Just because you’ve been doing something one way, doesn’t mean you need to always do it that way
Please remember that grief is more common than you may think, it is often not discussed but it is a very normal feeling to experience, especially this time of year. If you are struggling with grief and need more support, please visit the rest of our website for resources.
Follow Maryellen Dance on Instagram here and listen to her podcast here!
