When dealing with loss, it can be reassuring to reflect on grief quotes written by others who have been in your position. Grief is a highly complex emotion that falls under no set parameters. However, some people struggle with grief intensity that hinders their health and life. We want to help you process through and heal from your grief so you can find joy and contentment. At the same time, we acknowledge the importance of letting grief be felt. We’ve compiled some moving quotes about grief that can aid you in recovering from your loss.
What Is Grief?
Grief is the body’s response to the loss of a loved one, which manifests through physical, mental, and emotional signs. Although it can be incredibly painful, grieving is a natural process and it’s healthy to allow yourself to feel it. Notably, grief can be triggered by a variety of experiences centered around loss.
Commonly, the death of a loved one triggers grief, whether it be a friend, family member, pet, or someone in your social circle. Also, you can mourn other losses, like a version of yourself, certain dreams for your future, or an amputated limb. Overall, grief cannot be put into a box because the process looks different for everyone.
What Are the Signs and Symptoms of Grief?
Grief shows up in numerous ways, both during the immediate grieving period and later on. It affects the body comprehensively, impacting your mental, physical, and spiritual wellness. That is to say, when you’re mourning, you won’t be at your best in any area of life. For example, your emotions, relationships, sense of self, and mental health can suffer. This is entirely normal and alright. What matters is acknowledging the signs and symptoms of grief in you. Then, the next step is to begin healing your symptoms and overcoming grief through intentional coping strategies.
Physical Symptoms of Grief
Grief and mourning are felt physically in the body, although they can appear differently in each person. Even people who try to deny the grieving process, push their grief aside and continue as normal will feel the impacts in their bodies. Your grief may manifest physically in any or all of these ways:
- Tightness in the chest and throat
- Nausea
- Loss of appetite
- Increased heart rate
- Heart palpitations
- Trouble sleeping
- Restlessness
- Hollow feeling in the stomach
- Dizziness
- Body aches and pains
- High blood pressure
- Inflammation
Mental Symptoms of Grief
Grief forces people to confront the fragility of life and contemplate difficult truths. Thus, there is mental work to do when processing through and healing from loss. Some of the mental symptoms that can occur from grief include the following:
- Disbelief
- Rumination
- Confusion
- Avoidance
- Trouble concentrating
- Memory problems
- Dissociation
- Grief-induced depression
- Anxiety
- Withdrawal
Emotional Symptoms of Grief
Grief is a painful emotion that leads to many other feelings and mental experiences. Some of the emotions you may notice while grieving are listed below:
- Sorrow
- Hopelessness
- Anhedonia
- Tearfulness
- Frustration
- Insecurity
- Fear
- Anger
- Agitation
- Guilt
- Yearning
- Powerlessness
Are you struggling with substance abuse and mental illness?
Royal Life Centers at Seaglass is here to help you recover. Because we care.
What Is Complicated Grief?
Complicated grief refers to grief that falls outside of the typical mourning response. That is to say, grief is split into acute grief and integrated grief. Acute grief is what people feel immediately after their loss while processing deep pain and working through the grief stages. Individuals typically transition into integrated grief within around six months after their loss. Integrated grief is the still-painful but more settled experience of grief and mourning. Notably, grief never just goes away or becomes resolved. However, people with integrated grief are able to continue on in their lives through healthy ways of coping.
To circle back, complicated grief, or prolonged grief disorder, is when a person doesn’t transition into a less severe grief experience. They remain in intense pain that disrupts their ability to function in their life. Complicated grief requires treatment because it leaves people in a state of daily distress and sorrow. Professional grief counseling can help you overcome your symptoms of grief. Rather than be controlled by your symptoms, you will be able to find peace within the tragedy of loss.
How Long Does Grief Last?
There is no set timeline for how long grief does or should last. The process of recovering from the loss of a loved one is nothing anyone can prepare for. All they can do is work through it one day at a time. However, the hope of healing is that individuals can find contentment, peace, and fulfillment in their life, even with the hole left by loss. Symptoms are expected to remain intense for about six months after loss. Beyond that, lingering acute grief can indicate difficulty processing through and managing grief. Without adequately healing from grief, you’ll experience a low quality of life, but it doesn’t have to be this way. Prolonged grief can be healed in grief and loss counseling.
Stages of Grief
In 1969, psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross released information about the five stages people commonly move through while grieving. These stages are still widely referenced and studied today. During bereavement, you might move through these stages. However, you might not, or the process could look different. Some people don’t move through the levels linearly. Sometimes resolved stages resurface later. Grief is a complex process, but it can be helpful to understand how people often heal from their loss.
- Denial: Rejecting the reality of loss
- Anger: Responding to loss through a manageable emotion
- Bargaining: Pleading that the situation would be different somehow
- Depression: Feelings of sadness and hopelessness as the reality of loss finally sinks in
- Acceptance: Coming to a place of understanding and acceptance of the ways life will be different moving forward
Notably, acceptance in particular is a stage that can last for a long time. Essentially, it can take a lifetime to fully grapple with the fact your loved one is gone. And as mentioned, it’s not possible to completely resolve your grief because you’ll always miss your lost loved one. Acceptance simply indicates a healthy grieving process because you have reached a place of peace in your situation. All further healing can usually be largely self-managed.
Healing Quotes About Grief
When you’re struggling with loss, it’s helpful to realize there are others who have faced your same experience and made it to the other side. Sometimes quotes are able to capture a sense of beauty or peace in the midst of pain. Hopefully these quotes about grief can meet you where you are right now.
“Grief changes shape, but it never ends.” – Keanu Reeves
“What we have once enjoyed deeply we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.” – Helen Keller
“Grieving is a necessary passage and a difficult transition to finally letting go of sorrow – it is not a permanent rest stop.” – Dodinsky
“It has been said, ‘time heals all wounds.’ I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue and the pain lessens. But it is never gone.” – Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy
“There is no grief which time does not lessen and soften.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero
“And when great souls die, / after a period peace blooms, / slowly and always / irregularly. Spaces fill / with a kind of / soothing electric vibration. / Our senses, restored, never / to be the same, whisper to us. / They existed. They existed. / We can be. Be and be / better. For they existed.” – Maya Angelou
Tips for Coping with Grief
As much as we wish there was a formula to heal grief, there is no easy way to do so. Rather, the only way through grief is through it. This means you have to keep trying afresh every day. Some days will be better and others will be more challenging. It is also normal to experience extra emotions during certain times of year, like holidays, birthdays, and significant dates. When coping with grief, you can remember these tips that will keep you healthy throughout the process.
Avoid Suppressing Your Emotions
It’s important to let yourself feel your emotions fully. Repressing your pain by denying it, ignoring it, or blocking it will only cause it to fester. Eventually, it will resurface and you’ll have to face it. In fact, the best way to avoid complicated grief is to sit with the emotions as much as you can early on. As noted, your emotions will continue to appear, even after you’ve worked through the stages of grief. Let them. Do your best to feel them, but don’t let yourself stay trapped inside of the pain. You can always reach out to a grief counselor to learn healthy coping methods for when grief is especially strong.
Establish a Routine
Routines keep you moving forward in healthy ways, even when you don’t want to. Because routines form habits, you will still feel the desire to maintain your routines even on bad days. This will be the best for your mental and physical health. Your routine should include healthy coping actions like exercise, creativity, social support, rest, and nutritious eating. Try to get yourself out of your personal bubble by getting outside or seeing friends.
Practice Mindfulness Techniques
Mindfulness helps you stay centered in the mind-body connection. Grief impacts all parts of yourself, but mindfulness helps you locate your emotions within your body and mind. Take time for mindfulness when you need it. You can follow a guided meditation or simply sit quietly with your thoughts. Even a few minutes of meditation can do wonders for your mental wellness. Additionally, you can engage in an alternative therapy practice that uses mindfulness, like yoga, tai chi, or reiki.
Stay Connected to Friends and Family
Avoid the urge to isolate or withdraw when you feel grief surface. You might think you’re doing what’s best for others by hiding yourself, but it is not a safe or healthy practice. Instead, know that leaning on a support system is important for your mental health and overall grief recovery. Plus, your loved ones want to be there to help you if you let them. If you can’t turn to your loved ones, connect with a professional counselor or grief support group. You will find comfort in realizing you’re not alone in your experience.
What Is The Best Way To Overcome Grief?
The best way to treat grief is holistically, since it impacts all areas of your wellness. We provide holistic treatment at our inpatient and outpatient recovery center, Seaglass. Our programming includes therapies for your mind, body, and spirit. Below are some of the ways grief can manifest in your life. Know that we can help you recover from all of these symptoms through holistic treatment.
Professional Grief Counseling Near Me
Uplifting quotes about grief can provide a lifeline when you’re facing loss. Additionally, they can help you access deep feelings and emotions that help you to heal. However, grief quotes are not enough if you’re struggling with complicated grief or depression. Fortunately, they don’t have to be because quotes aren’t all you have.
You can find professional grief therapists who are trained to help you process through your bereavement. They are empathetic and knowledgeable support systems who can help you find peace and joy in your life again. Additionally, counselors will help you process however works best for you—like sharing healing grief quotes. Please contact Seaglass Recovery so we can connect you with a grief counselor.
