Change is the only constant thing in life and it is certain that everyone will pass away. During such time of grief, many people seek support from their family and friends but there are also those who have no such support system. In Pearl River County, there is a group that meets once a month to offer support to those people who have just lost their loved ones. The meetings are free to attend and everything discussed is kept confidential. To learn more, visit picayuneitem.com.

There are five generally accepted stages of grief. While these are commonly tackled when a cherished person passes a way, they also apply when a beloved pet dies. Many pet owners have gotten so attached to their furry companions that they are stuck in shock, disbelief and denial when the latter passes away. This isn’t necessarily a negative experience as it creates a distraction from grief, allowing them to focus on important arrangements, such as burial or cremation. Eventually, they would have to move on to anger, bargaining, depression and, finally, acceptance. All these stages are normal and important to coping with grief. Click here to learn more.

Some say that learning of a loved one’s imminent death allows you time to cope sooner. What they fail to take into consideration is when a person devotes herself to caring for the individual that she ends up feeling empty when the latter passes away. Moving forward after the death of a loved one takes accepting the reality of the loss, experiencing the feeling of grief, adjusting to an environment in which the deceased is missing, and taking the emotional energy you would have spent on the one who died and reinvest it in another relationship or relationships. To learn more, click here.

Jason Garner, a CEO of global music for Live Nation, wishes he had simply talked to his co-workers more about his mother and her death.  More so, he wishes he was able to share his grief instead of shutting down completely. In retrospect, Garner still remembers how the support poured in the moment he started sharing his feelings of isolation. According to him, he wishes he had taken more breaks during the work day to be alone because it would have helped him cope better. To learn more, click here.

According to experts, there are five stages in the cycle of grief and loss: disbelief, bargaining, anger, depression and acceptance. While a person may bounce back and forth between these stages, one can also get stuck in one area for a time. Disbelief is the stage in the grieving process where a person constantly denies the reality of death. Bargaining, on the other hand, involves a coping mechanism in which the person believes that he or she can negotiate his way out of what is currently happening to him. Anger takes the form of control while depression is where most people think grief and loss beings. According to experts, acceptance can only be achieved when a person realizes that things are what they are. To learn more, click here.

Seeing a friend or a classmate try to cope with death of a loved one can be a very upsetting experience for children. However, parents and caring adults can do so much more to help their children or young teens understand death and grief. Below are some tips. –          Clarify your children’s understanding of death. –          Reassure the children that their own families are safe. –          Help children anticipate some change in their friends’ behavior. –          Help the children understand that their friendship may be an important source of support for friends and classmates. For more tips, click here.