Editing Grief (section)

== Support ==

=== Professional support ===

Many people who grieve do not need professional help.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.griefhealingblog.com/2010/04/finding-grief-support-that-is-right-for.html|title=Finding Grief Support That is Right for You}}</ref> Some, however, may seek additional support from licensed [[psychologist]]s or [[psychiatrist]]s. Support resources available to the bereaved may include [[grief counseling]], professional support-groups or educational classes, and peer-led support groups. In the United States of America, local [[hospice]] agencies may provide a first contact for those seeking bereavement support.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.interimhealthcare.com/services/hospice/bereavement-services|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150406004349/http://www.interimhealthcare.com/services/hospice/bereavement-services|url-status=live|archive-date=6 April 2015|title="Interim Hospice Bereavement and Grief" Accessed September 5, 2015}}</ref>

It is important to recognize when grief has turned into something more serious, thus mandating contacting a medical professional. Grief can result in depression or alcohol- and drug-abuse and, if left untreated, it can become severe enough to impact daily living.<ref name="nlm">{{MedlinePlusEncyclopedia|001530|Grief}}</ref> It recommends contacting a medical professional if "you can't deal with grief, you are using excessive amounts of drugs or alcohol, you become very depressed, or you have prolonged depression that interferes with your daily life".<ref name="nlm" /> Other reasons to seek medical attention may include: "Can focus on little else but your loved one's death, have persistent pining or longing for the deceased person, have thoughts of guilt or self-blame, believe that you did something wrong or could have prevented the death, feel as if life is not worth living, have lost your sense of purpose in life, wish you had died along with your loved one".<ref name="mayoclinic" />

Professionals can use multiple ways to help someone cope and move through their grief. Hypnosis is sometimes used as an adjunct therapy in helping patients experiencing grief.<ref name="Hart">{{Cite journal |title=Hypnotherapy for Traumatic Grief: Janetian and Modern Approaches Integrated |last1= van der Hart |first1=Onno |first2=Paul |last2=Brown |first3=Ronald N. |last3=Turco |journal=American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis |volume=32 |issue=4 |pages= 263–71 |year=1990 |doi=10.1080/00029157.1990.10402833|pmid= 2186612 }}</ref> Hypnosis enhances and facilitates mourning and helps patients to resolve traumatic grief.<ref name="Brown">{{Cite journal |url=http://www.onnovdhart.nl/articles/traumaticgrief.pdf |title=Hypnotherapy for Traumatic Grief: Janetian and modern approaches integrated |journal=American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis |last1=Hart |first1=O. |last2=Brown |first2=P. |last3=Turco |first3=R.N. |date=April 1989 |volume=32 |number=4 |pages=1–6}}</ref> [[Art therapy]] may also be used to allow the bereaved to process their grief in a non-verbal way.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Buser | first1=Trevor J. | last2=Buser | first2=Juleen K. | last3=Gladding | first3=Samuel T. | title=Good Grief: The Part of Arts in Healing Loss and Grief | journal=Journal of Creativity in Mental Health | publisher=Informa UK Limited | volume=1 | issue=3–4 | year=2005 | issn=1540-1383 | doi=10.1300/j456v01n03_10 | pages=173–183| s2cid=145016908 }}</ref>

Lichtenthal and Cruess studied how bereavement-specific written disclosure had benefits in helping adjust to loss, and in helping improve the effects of [[post-traumatic stress disorder]] (PTSD), prolonged grief disorder, and depression. Directed writing helped many of the individuals who had experienced a loss of a significant relationship. It involved individuals trying to make meaning out of the loss through [[meaning-making]] (making sense of what happened and the cause of the death), or through [[benefit finding]] (consideration of the global significance of the loss of one's goals, and helping the family develop a greater appreciation of life). This meaning-making can come naturally for some, but many need direct intervention to "move on".<ref>{{cite journal|last=Lichtenthal|first=W.G.|author2=Cruess D.G.|title=Effects of Directed Written Disclosure on Grief and Distress symptoms among Bereaved individuals|journal=Death Studies|year=2010|volume=34|issue=6|pages=475–99|doi=10.1080/07481187.2010.483332|pmid=24482856|pmc=3909885}}</ref>

=== Support groups ===
{{further|Support group|Bereavement group}}

Support groups for bereaved individuals follow a diversity of patterns.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Bereavement Groups and the Role of Social Support: Integrating Theory, Research, and Practice|last=Hoy|first=William G.|publisher=Routledge|year=2016|isbn=978-1138916890|location=New York}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Rosenstein, D. |author2=Yopp, J.|title=The Group: Seven Widowed Fathers Reimagine Life|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RXI8DwAAQBAJ|date=2018|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0190649562}}</ref> Many are organized purely as peer-to-peer groups such as local chapters of the [[The Compassionate Friends|Compassionate Friends]], an international group for bereaved parents. Other grief support groups are led by professionals, perhaps with the assistance of peers. Some support groups deal with specific problems, such as learning to plan meals and cook for only for one person.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Nierenberg|first=Amelia|date=28 October 2019|title=For Many Widows, the Hardest Part Is Mealtime (Published 2019)|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/28/dining/widows-cooking-grief.html|access-date=23 November 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>