Posts Tagged ‘family members’

by gmayster01 on & off …

The holidays are upon us and it seems that many people have decided to simplify their holiday traditions this year. Instead of spending hours shopping and getting frustrated at the mall, they have decided to spend quality time with friends and family.

In the spirit of simplicity and kindness, we have compiled a list of 12 simple and memorable ways to support a grieving loved one this holiday season. This list comes from the suggestions submitted by our online community. So take a minute to check your holiday To Do List and be sure you have added your grieving loved ones to the list.

1. Don’t be afraid to acknowledge the loss. One of the most important things you can do for a friend that is grieving is to understand that special occasions and holidays may be filled with both sorrow and joy. A message as simple as “I know the holidays may be difficult for you. I want you to know that I am thinking about you.” will let them know you care.

When a loved one dies, we all react differently. For some people, accepting the inevitable loss of a 87-year-old much-loved grandfather following a lengthy illness is not that difficult. For others, it is an unbearable task. Similarly, some people seem to “get over” the loss of a small child in a relatively short period of time, while others never seem to recover.

For the many people who find it hard to cope with a death, grief counseling often can help them make the transition. Its goal is to help people grieve within a normal, healthy period of time and eventually resume their daily lives. Grief counseling can be a long-term process, a short-term affair or even a one-off, and can occur on a one-to-one basis or in groups.

by Maryland National Guard

As a mental health consumer/survivor, I realize the importance of having a strong support system. Support systems can include a significant other, family members, friends, and even other mental health consumers. Chances for recovery are greatly improved when we are able to lean on a strong support system. Our support system gives us encouragement and understanding. A support system is there for us during times of accomplishment and troublesome times as well. A support system allows us to let someone assist us or take over everyday tasks that we might not be able to do at certain times during our recovery, from simple things such as running an errand or more complex tasks such as managing finances. We hope that our support system understands what we are going through and, just as important, we need to be aware of the commitment our support system is making in being there for us. They fight alongside us in the goal of defeating the disease, helping us to live a more fruitful life as we manage the symptoms of our illness.

Question by Dennis: Credit experts, lenders, mortgage underwriters?
I have a very average credit score, 689 I believe. I have some negative history on my credit report. My wife passed away in 2003. In 2005 I had a stroke and was hospitalized for a long period of time, became severely depressed and was in rehab for several months. . While I was still in rehab I wasn’t sure if I would ever work, and actually applied for SS disability. When it came down to finally ruling on the disability I elected not to go thru with that as I was getting better and felt I could return to work. Unfortunately I let my concern about paying off my credit card accounts get the best of me and I utilized a well advertised credit service to settle my accounts. Some I paid off in full but I have some charge offs on my credit report.

Psychoanalysis is a therapeutic approach preferred by followers of the Freudian school of thought (circa 1900’s) that sees clients as psychologically ill through unconscious conflict within the mind. Freud based his approach on individual clinical case studies, which fail to be empirically tested due to the impossibility of replication. This means that the treatment of clients is an act of faith based on experience of individual therapists own experience.

The conflict that Freud wrote of was the mind’s ability to protect itself from harm by creating strategies that Freud named defence mechanisms. These mechanisms prevent conscious awareness of traumatic experience from the past in childhood that could cause distress to the client. These defence mechanisms often displayed themselves as maladaptive behaviour and presented themselves in therapy as symptomlogy of biological defects, such as twitching, nervousness and at its worst hysteria (panic attacks).

The loss of loved ones is not a topic many people like to discuss. In general, society is uncomfortable with this loss. However, death has a very real impact on those who knew and loved the departed.

Death impacts us all in specific and unique ways and each person deals with loss individually. There is no right or wrong way to grieve but having support of friends, family and trained professionals can help move us through grief.

Losing loved ones is particularly impactful to children and often their grief is forgotten or overlooked in the process. With so much going on and family members feeling their own grief, children may not receive the support they need.

That’s where Willow Center for Grieving Children steps in.