Page 22 - Inspire Health September/October 2016
P. 22
efStoicism Grief can wash over you like
and a tsunami or strike in a
avoidance series of smaller, insistent
won’t help waves that wear you down like the
you move ocean tumbling rocks into sand. It can
on after express itself as depression, anger,
a loss sorrow or numbness.
By Patrick O’Donnell It may come after the death of a loved
one, an atrocity such as 9/11, the loss of
a job or relationship or the death of a
pet. And no matter the source, grief is a
legitimate emotion — and reaction —
that deserves to be acknowledged, not
swept under the rug.
It’s how you deal with grief that makes
the difference between drowning in it or
finding a way to rise above it, swim along
with it and, eventually, exit the current.
“Every one of us [needs to] realize
we were misdirected,” says Russell
Friedman, executive director of the
California-based Grief Recovery Method
Institute. “All of us are taught, from
when we were little, ‘don’t feel bad, have
a cookie.’ That misdirects us from our
grief and says that grief is bad.”
“I totally agree,” says Robin L.
Carosella, a psychologist with the
Center for Integrative Psychotherapy
in Allentown. “As a society, there’s an
attitude of ‘suck it up, buttercup’ …
Grief and mental health are stigmatized,
so much so that people don’t seek help
because they’re afraid they’re going to be
perceived as weak.”
And it doesn’t matter if it’s a loved
one, a family pet, or a beloved celebrity;
if you’ve lost a job or are getting a
divorce — grief is grief.
and a tsunami or strike in a
avoidance series of smaller, insistent
won’t help waves that wear you down like the
you move ocean tumbling rocks into sand. It can
on after express itself as depression, anger,
a loss sorrow or numbness.
By Patrick O’Donnell It may come after the death of a loved
one, an atrocity such as 9/11, the loss of
a job or relationship or the death of a
pet. And no matter the source, grief is a
legitimate emotion — and reaction —
that deserves to be acknowledged, not
swept under the rug.
It’s how you deal with grief that makes
the difference between drowning in it or
finding a way to rise above it, swim along
with it and, eventually, exit the current.
“Every one of us [needs to] realize
we were misdirected,” says Russell
Friedman, executive director of the
California-based Grief Recovery Method
Institute. “All of us are taught, from
when we were little, ‘don’t feel bad, have
a cookie.’ That misdirects us from our
grief and says that grief is bad.”
“I totally agree,” says Robin L.
Carosella, a psychologist with the
Center for Integrative Psychotherapy
in Allentown. “As a society, there’s an
attitude of ‘suck it up, buttercup’ …
Grief and mental health are stigmatized,
so much so that people don’t seek help
because they’re afraid they’re going to be
perceived as weak.”
And it doesn’t matter if it’s a loved
one, a family pet, or a beloved celebrity;
if you’ve lost a job or are getting a
divorce — grief is grief.
