Everyone will experience grief at least once in their lives. We often associate grief with death. But it can occur when you experience any kind of loss. That might include losing your job, going through a divorce, or even missing out on the “normalcy” of life. Many people began to grieve during the COVID-19 pandemic for that reason.
Grieving a loss is normal. Working through your stages of grief is healthy, as it lets you move forward into the next chapter of life.
However, normal grieving can sometimes go too far. You might find that you’re not moving on, and you can’t seem to let go of the overwhelming weight of your loss. That’s often referred to as prolonged grief syndrome.
So, how can you tell the difference between normal grieving and prolonged grief syndrome, especially when there’s no real timeline for grief? Let’s look at some of the signs.
What Is Prolonged Grief Syndrome?
According to the American Psychiatric Association, prolonged grief syndrome occurs when you experience persistent and intense grief that interferes with your everyday life.
While grief can come and go in waves, prolonged grief can make you feel like you’re experiencing the loss for the first time — all the time. The feelings you have are just as intense and frequent as they were when the loss first occurred, and you can’t seem to get rid of those feelings or weaken their intensity.
As you might expect, that kind of intense grief can make it difficult to get through the day. Prolonged grief syndrome can impact your career and your relationships, and even lead to other mental health conditions, including depression.
Symptoms of Prolonged Grief Syndrome
Speaking of depression, it can be easy to confuse the two conditions because they share many of the same symptoms. Some of the common signs of prolonged grief syndrome include:
- Intense emotional pain
- Identity disruption
- Avoiding reminders of what you lost
- Disbelief over what you lost
These feelings can cause you to withdraw from loved ones and things that typically interest you. They can leave you feeling exhausted and overwhelmed, as well as overwhelmingly sad and helpless.
Anyone can experience prolonged grief syndrome, but certain people are more at risk. Typically, the closer you are to the loss, the greater the chances of experiencing prolonged grief. It’s also more likely to happen if the loss is sudden and unexpected, like someone dying in an accident or in a violent manner.
Healing and Moving On
One of the best ways to manage and eventually overcome this disorder is through therapy. Working with a mental health expert, especially one who specializes in prolonged grief, can help you better understand the root of your feelings, so you can start to process them in healthy, effective ways.
Therapy for prolonged grief syndrome might also include discussing your attachment relationships and working through different types of emotional regulation.
It’s also important to make sure you’re leaning on your support system when you’re struggling with grief. Again, there’s no timeline on how quickly you should get over a loss. But if you can’t seem to get through a day without letting that loss overwhelm you, it can be damaging to your health. Having people in your corner who can provide comfort and support will make a big difference in your healing process.
The grief you’re experiencing doesn’t have to hold you down forever. If you believe you’re dealing with prolonged grief syndrome, don’t hesitate to reach out today to set up an appointment. Working through your grief doesn’t mean forgetting about who or what you lost. Rather, it allows you to move forward in your life while still honoring that memory in your heart.