Prolonged grief
What we know about grief is that most people who have been bereaved, will be okay with the support of family, friends, colleagues, and their community. Some will need a bit more support and a very few will need professional mental health support. So, the chances are you will be fine. We know though, grief is a deeply personal experience and there is wide variation in how people adapt to grief.
Grief doesn’t go away but will evolve and change over time. For most, grief will settle down and find a place in our life where it is in the background and stops dominating our lives. As we learn to live and adapt to a new world without our special person, grief’s dominance over our thoughts, feelings, and behaviours, reduces.
Some people, however, grief doesn’t change, despite the passage of time. This type of grief is now known as prolonged grief (also referred to as complicated grief). In prolonged grief, the grief dominates a person’s life and they are unable to enjoy life or find any sense of purpose or meaning.
Griefline have a resource on Understanding Prolonged Grief, which includes how prolonger grief differs from ‘normal’ grief, risk factors, and where to find compassionate, evidence-based support.
This brief video from The Grief Channel, Psychotherapist Julia Samuel, further explores complicated (prolonged) grief.
If you are concerned that your grief may have become prolonged, you may want to access professional mental health support. You may be eligible to access the Metro North Palliative Care Grief and Bereavement Service. If you are not eligible for this service, talk with your General Practitioner. They will be able to explore your options for accessing a mental health professional, ideally someone with experience supporting people who are grieving. Alternative supports are also outlined in the Your Support Network section.