How to Get Through the Fog of Grief
Access to grief resources after a cremation service is available in Tallahassee. One of the normal side effects of the grieving process is not being able to think clearly for an extended period of time after your loved one has died. Even though this condition is common and will eventually end, it can be very troubling while you’re experiencing it.
This physiological and neurological condition, known as the fog of grief, is not something that you are just imaging is happening. It’s a very real to loss, but it may seem that your capacity to think, to respond, or even to process information is permanently altered.
Grief counseling professionals explain that this feeling of being in a fog, being unable to remember simple things like where we put our car keys or even important dates needed for filing paperwork, is the brain and body’s cumulative response to trauma.
While you may not think of the death of someone you love as being traumatic, it is, of all of life’s experiences, one of the most traumatic events you will experience. The shock you feel after suffering a great personal loss can have any number of effects, but these effects are all manifestations of the mind’s urgent need to stop and process what has happened.
For example, after your loved one has died, you may find that your grief literally makes even the smallest or easiest task seem overwhelming and impossible to do. You may find that if the communication of well-meaning family and friends consists of more than a few words or a short sentence, your mind immediately shuts down and you are unable to answer them.
Your thinking and movements will be slowed and muddled, and everything seems like you’re trying to walk through quicksand. There may be times when you feel like you have shut down completely.
But even though ever recovering from this state seems too far away or even impossible at these times, you need to be assured that, in time, you will start slowly healing from your loss, and the fog of grief will gradually start to lift.
The fog of grief typically has three components.
Emotionally, you are trying to make sense of what has happened and are often puzzled that the outside world is seemingly oblivious and is still going about as if nothing monumental has happened.
Neurologically, you are in a form of mental self-protection, which is essential until you can safely begin to process the loss of your loved one and move forward. This component explains the memory lapses and the slowed thinking that you experience in the fog of grief.
Finally, there is the physical component, which causes you to feel extreme fatigue because all of your resources are diverted toward healing the trauma you have experienced.
The fog of grief can be quite confusing and disruptive while it lasts. However, most grief professionals see it as a necessary part of our overall recovery as you take the road through grief into a new and different life.
There is a consensus that the fog of grief generally lasts between two and seven months after you lose your loved one. However, it may last even longer than that for you.
Be patient because that there is no one timetable or calendar that applies to everybody. What grief counselors stress, instead, is the importance of allowing yourself to acknowledge and fully experience your grief, however long that takes you.
For more information about obtaining grief resources after a cremation service in Tallahassee, our caring and knowledgeable staff at Lifesong Funerals & Cremations is here to assist you.
