This week Bobbi Conner talks with Dr. Rebeca Castellanos about coping with grief. Dr. Castellanos is a clinical psychologist and an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at MUSC.
TRANSCRIPT:
Conner: I'm Bobbi Conner for South Carolina Public Radio with Health Focus here at the radio studio for the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. People have unique ways of experiencing grief and coping with their emotions after losing a loved one. Doctor Rebecca Castellanos is here to talk about coping with grief in the early stages and beyond. Doctor Castellanos is a clinical psychologist, and she's an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at MUSC. Doctor Castellanos, what are some of the universal aspects of grief after losing a loved one?
Dr. Castellanos: I do think it's important to start with saying that grief is quite unique to all individuals. Everybody has different emotional reactions to grief, so we might feel sadness, anger, numbness, relief for some people, a very wide range of emotions. But I think what is universal is that as we go through that, we are adjusting. In the very root of that experience of grief is just making sense of this loss that we've experienced.
Conner: What are your thoughts on how to get through the early days of grieving.
Dr. Castellanos: In the immediate aftermath of a loss there's typically a lot of logistical aspects to take care of related to the loss itself sometimes. But it's also important to try as much as possible to have routine. So I always say focus on the basics. Focus on are you drinking enough water? Are you nourishing yourself? Are you moving your body? And importantly, surrounding yourself with people that can make space for that grief for you immediately after a loss? Your pull is going to be to isolate. The pull is going to want to be by yourself sometimes. And so it's really important to be purposeful about seeking support and receiving support as well.
Conner: And how can someone who is grieving find support to help them when they're experiencing such a heavy loss?
Dr. Castellanos: One part of the support is going to be the immediate support that you already have in your social network. Sometimes that cannot be ideal support, because sometimes our social networks may not be equipped to handle the loss. They may not know what to do with you in your loss. And so finding people that have an understanding of what you're going through can be helpful. So that can be something like a support group, for example. A grief counselor can be helpful as well, or friends or family that understand your loss, and that can make room for you to experience that loss with them.
Conner: What else can be helpful for someone coping with grief?
Dr. Castellanos: So, you know, there's been a lot written about grief and a lot of studies are on grief. One piece that stands out to me is something that Viktor Frankl wrote about in terms of grief, and he said that in order to move through grief, there are three really important things to do. The first one is to find yourself people that feel safe and that are willing to be with you and your grief. The second one is to find yourself and surround yourself with art forms, so not going to the museum necessarily, but music, books, movies, the depictions of grief that you can connect to to make sense of your own grief. And the third is surrounding yourself with nature and spending time in nature.
Conner: Doctor Castellano, thanks for this information about coping with grief.
Dr. Castellanos: Thank you.
Conner: From the radio studio for the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, I'm Bobbi Conner for South Carolina Public Radio.
Health Focus transcripts are intended to accurately represent the original audio version of the program; however, some discrepancies or inaccuracies may exist. The audio format serves as the official record of Health Focus programming.
