Even though grief is something we’re all going to experience at some point in our lives, it’s still quite misunderstood. That’s why it’s important to debunk the common myths about grief. Here are a few.
Everyone grieves in stages
There’s no wrong or right way to grieve. While some people may grieve in stages, others grieve differently. No one really plans out how they’re going to deal with loss once it happens. Every single feeling and reaction you have towards your loss is unexpected, even to you. So it’s a bad idea to compare your grieving process to that of others or to link it to the different stages that exist. It differs from person to person.
Women grieve more
Women are often thought to be softer and more in touch with their emotions, and because of that, the misconception is that they grieve more. This is a myth. Women may grieve differently to men if they feel more open to show their emotions or
allow themselves to be vulnerable, while men may want to come off as “manly” by holding back a little more. The truth is that there’s no way to quantify grief and identify who grieves more or less.
Grieving means crying
Different people react differently to grief. Just because someone isn’t crying, doesn’t mean they’re not grieving. This is a process that brings about a lot of emotions in people, some of which we may never understand. Whether you cry more or less than the next person during your grief is irrelevant. Crying shouldn’t be what causes people to invalidate how you’re feeling and how you choose to grieve.
It takes a year to get over grief
What makes grief difficult is the fact that there’s no timeframe that can be put on it. This is also what causes most people to want to grieve in silence and distance themselves from others,
because they may feel like they’re not “getting over it” quickly enough. This isn’t a real thing as you can’t rush your grieving process.
Time heals
This may be something you’ve heard before, and even though it usually comes from a good place, there are very few things that can heal someone who’s lost a loved one. Sometimes it’s therapy, support and talking about your feelings that heals grief, more so than time. Time may help you accept your loss, but it’s not the reason you heal from it.
With all that said, we can’t tell anyone how to grieve, all we can do is offer our support and help. If you know anyone who’s going through grief, be patient with them and offer your full support. If you’re the one grieving, be patient with yourself and don’t rush your healing process. Need to chat about this further? Reach out to us via AskCellCgirl- it’s free and completely confidential.
