5 Benefits of Writing about Your Grief

Writing down emotions, the best way to deal with grief!!

Sheena, a young girl of 5 lost a pet, her favorite cat Kitty. She was too young to understand what death is. But she could feel the emotions of losing a loved one. She could experience severe grief. Though she couldn’t express her grief to anyone, she ended up holding all those emotions within her. As she grew up, she showed some behavioral changes. She never allowed any animal to come near her. She did not connect with kids of her age and younger children. She stopped playing with her toys. She always created a boundary around her and never allowed people to come close to her. She had very few friends to call, her best pals.

She always looked withdrawn in social environments and would not connect with her surroundings. It was a matter of concern to her parents and her teachers as well. She was taken to a mental health expert as these traits were creating behavioral issues and unrest. After a brief analysis, the mental health expert found that the grief of losing her beloved pet was still alive in her like a bubble and it never exploded. She could never come out of her grief. She could never navigate her grief in a constructive way, nor did she ever express it. This resulted in withdrawal symptoms, insecurities, the fear of losing loved other behavioral issues.

After a lot of persuasion, she opened up about what she was going through, what she was feeling, how she was unable to get over the images of her beloved pet, how she was not able to get over the grief of losing her kitty, how she always felt like crying. She was overwhelmed with a melancholy of other negative feelings too.

The mental health expert suggested her write down what she was going through. He advised her to write down the whole story by revisiting the moments from her childhood. The best times she spent along with her kitty. He also insisted that she write the day then she crossed the rainbow bridge. He insisted that she write about all her feelings, fears, insecurities, grief, and all the emotional turmoil she went through by using proper words.

He said this as a part of her therapy and healing process. He made her understand how important it is to understand one’s emotions and put them down on paper. This helps the person to revisit the moments and expose the person to the same environment of grief, experience everything, and then let go slowly.

Though Sheena was in her teens now, still she could not outgrow the grief. Initially, she found it difficult to put her emotions on paper. It was equally challenging and overwhelming. For her, it was like going through the same grief, the same emotions again and again which she couldn’t handle initially. After a few days, she again gathered courage as insisted by her Psychologist, and started to write down a story about her pet kitty.

She narrated how she felt since the day she came into her life, the way she played with her, how life was beautiful with her, and how difficult it became once she left. Every time she would pause understand the emotions use proper words to express her grief. Though this was emotionally taxing, still she continued with this therapy of story writing.

After a few days, she felt her grief had come down. She felt she was more in her control. She felt more empowered. She could come to terms with the loss as her focus shifted from the loss to the moments spent with her that added to happy memories. In this way, she could navigate the grief by writing a story about losing her beloved pet kitty.

5 Benefits of Writing about Your Grief

Writing down about one’s grief is therapeutic and adds to the healing process. It always allows one to express suppressed emotions, thoughts, deepest fears, feelings of anxiety & and depression in a way that nobody else can read it and only you know about it. This is the best therapy for people who are introverts, who are unable to express their emotions and navigate them in a healthy way.

1. Emotional release

Writing down provides a safe and non-judgmental way of releasing one’s intense emotions that come with grief. One can easily express feelings, such as sadness, anger, guilt, and confusion. Putting these feelings into words can help a person to release them and reduce the emotional burden and it gives a sense of relief, as this shifts the gears of the emotional overwhelm.

2. Clarity and understanding

The grief of losing a loved one, breaking up, or divorce, losing a beloved pet, and the grief of losing a job can be overwhelming and chaotic. Writing down about one’s grief allows a person to organize thoughts and re-experience what an individual is going through. This gives clarity to the situation as the mind starts to de-clutter. When you write down, it gives a deeper insight into the emotions and leads to a better understanding of the grief journey. It helps a person to navigate one’s emotions in a better way by finding healthy outlets.

3. Documentation of memories

Writing down the memories of past experiences with the person or the pet or the thing one has lost can be a way to honor and remember them in a healthy. This shifts the focus from the grief of loss to the beautiful memories that one can cherish throughout life. It is like revisiting those good memories and doing a replay of it subconsciously. This establishes a healthy connection with the loss, with the sad / happy memories.

4. Tracking progress

Healing from grief is a gradual process and it takes time. It’s not a cake walk but by documenting one’s grief journey, one can track the progress and see how an individual has evolved in coping with the loss. This provides a sense of accomplishment and motivates the person to continue to heal.

5. Improved communication

Sharing one’s thoughts and feelings in a written way with trusted friends, family members, or a therapist can help facilitate better communication. This will always help the person to shift the overburden from one’s head to the other person’s shoulder. This will help the person to express what he or she is going through in a better way, where one finds short of words in communication. This helps a person to get proper support while navigating through test testing times.

Writing down about grief is a valuable tool for coping with loss while promoting emotional healing and finding a proper closure. One can always express what one wants to say to the person who is no more. It takes off the guilt from the mind and heart. There are so many unheard emotions and said emotions that an individual would always want to express them openly to the departed soul. While writing down this becomes easy, and one starts feeling better.

The emotional void is filled with gratitude rather than remorse. There can be various ways of expressing one’s emotions through writing, whether it’s journaling, writing a story, writing poetry, writing letters, or any other form of expression like writing short notes. The whole idea behind this therapy of writing is to heal from the emotional pit and navigate through the emotional turmoil.

How counselling can help a person deal with grief?

Counselling is immensely beneficial for the person dealing with profound grief by providing a safe supportive and non-judgmental platform to express emotions and navigate the complex journey. A trained counsellor or a therapist will offer guidance with proper tools and techniques, like talk therapy to outgrow the emotional journey of grief. Counselling offers resilience and healing while gradually moving forward in their lives and the person learns to live with one’s memories.

Grief Counselling and OnlineCounselling4U

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