The loss of a loved one is something that none of us ever want to experience, unfortunately however, it is a cold fact of life and one never knows when the inevitable will occur. There is little you can do to prepare yourself for a loss like this, regardless of whether they have suffered with a disease or if it came as a shock. One of the most important things however and one of the best ways to get through such an awful period of your life, is by helping your family and being helped by them. As a family unit you will be in a far stronger position to deal with the loss and try to continue your lives.
As I said you can never prepare but if this is something that you are going through right now, then here is how you can best help your family.
Talking
They say that some people like to deal with these things on their own, in my experience this is not the case and talking is truly the best therapy. Encouraging a family member to talk can really help, they don’t necessarily have to talk to you, just anyone who is empathetic and can understand their emotions. My brother was traditionally a ‘head in the sand’ kind of guy but I knew that he could do with chatting to someone, we had an excellent female funeral director who asked him a few questions and boom, the floodgates opened. Find a way for your family member to open up, it will help them significantly.
Being Open
One thing that often stops family members from talking to each other is that they feel as though if they are having a bad day that they don’t want to bring the other person down, if they are coping alright that day. Help your family by reminding them that you are open at any time for a chat or to help them out.
Pick Up The Details
During the grief that follows after losing a family member, many small details which you could normally deal with easily become a bigger effort and you can support your family in this way. Looking after a family member’s child or children for example, picking up some groceries or even helping with the funeral arrangements are all ways in which you can be supportive within the family.
Give Them Space
As much as it is important that your family members open up about how they are feeling, it is also vitally important that you give them enough space to grieve. Many of us truly don’t know how we are feeling after someone passes away and persistent questions will do us no favors at all. We all need that little bit of space from time to time to be alone with our thoughts, cry if we need to and consider what state our emotions are in, it is during this time that our bodies allow us to grieve and without this space we can end up failing to deal with the loss which could manifest itself in negative ways in the future.