How naturopathy can help you through times of grief

First blog post of 2024 and I am going to talk about an incredibly hard topic associated with mental health because it is something that has hit late in 2023 and again in the first week of 2024. Grief not only occurs at the death of a loved one, but can occur due to illness, divorce, a parting of a friendship, or a situation that results in a significant loss. Feeling and coping strategies can vary from person to person. Someone may appear to be coping while internally they are struggling significantly, or not coping at all. In this time we need to be kind to ourselves and our process as well as those around us feeling the same loss.

There is no right time frame for grieving and while some may not cry or show outward emotion this does not mean they are not feeling the pain deeply.

While normal emotions to feel while grieving include shock or disbelief, sadness, guilt, fear, and anger. Physical symptoms can include fatigue, nausea, lowered immunity, weight loss or gain, aches and pains, and insomnia.

The type of grief can change how you feel about grieving as anticipatory grief can occur particularly where the person is terminal where you begin to grieve before the person has passed, which can cause confusion of emotions, but it can allow for last goodbyes to occur or help to resolve unfinished business, and plan. Disenfranchised grief can occur when the loss is devalued or stigmatised which can occur if the loss was due to miscarriage or suicide. It can be considered inappropriate to grieve if the person is a colleague, classmate, or neighbour, or not given the same rights if it is a same-sex partner or a friend. Circumstances such as these can make it difficult to come to terms with the loss you are feeling and to navigate through the grieving process.

Tips to help you through the grieving process:

-       Seek support from loved ones, a trained therapist or counsellor, support group. Doing normal things with friends is ok at this time if a distraction for a short time is what you need. Not every interaction has to be talking and sharing how you feel. Engage in joyful activities with friends and family.

-       Limit social media use as it can have negative impacts on your mental health.

-       Face your feelings, this can be journaling, speaking to someone, crying, or whatever feels right. Unresolved grief can lead to depression, anxiety, substance abuse and health problems.

-       Try to maintain hobbies and activities that bring you joy. It is ok to be angry, yell, cry not cry and even laugh. The person you lost would want you to be happy!

-       Try to maintain healthy eating patterns, physical activity, and get enough sleep. Don’t use alcohol or drugs to numb the pain or artificially lift your mood.

-       Try to mark your loss with things the person you lost and you did together or that they enjoyed. This could be eating their favourite meal, going to their favourite place, or watching their favourite sport. Remember milestones such as birthdays, holidays or anniversaries can bring up painful memories, try to be with people you care about and mark the day in a meaningful way. Remember the good times.

How can naturopathy help you through this tough time?

-       You may feel tired or physically fatigued during this time. Naturopathy can help by providing nutritional support to improve overall well-being and improve energy levels.

-       Gastrointestinal issues can occur when under stress, when eating differently and when changes to routine occur.  Herbs and supplements can be used in a variety of ways depending on the specific cause of the issues. This can be adaptogens to help cope with stress, nutritional support, fibre, aromatic herbs or bitter tonic to enhance digestion, carminative to reduce digestive discomfort or calmative to relax the body focusing on the digestive system.

-       Immunity support can be nutritive herbs, supplements, immune modulators or immune stimulants.

-       Weight loss or gain can be supported through diet and exercise working slowly to restore to previous levels.  

-       Aches and pains can be reduced with anodyne herbs while working to find the specific cause.

-       Insomnia can be helped with a range of sedative, antidepressant, anxiolytic and adaptogen herbs.

Each treatment plan will be different. Naturopathy is person-centred and will focus on you and what you need at a specific time. Remember to be kind to yourself, and allow healing so you can focus on your purpose when you are feeling up for the challenge again. That may not be today, tomorrow or next month. But until you are take the time to heal and be kind to yourself until then.