My Quest Hub
The World is Grieving
Melanie Phillips
Supervisor & Therapist
July 2020
The world has been going through a pandemic. Normally when something happens, like a natural or man-made disaster, it takes place in one part of the world. The rest of the world sympathises, sends money, aid or help, and we all move on within our world. However, in this instance, the entire world is going through the same thing. Some countries appear to be coping better than others, though that doesn’t change the fact that everyone is impacted by it. The entire world is grieving. This is an extremely rare occurrence.
We are grieving for lost loved ones, be they family, friends, work colleagues or neighbours. We are grieving for the life that we were leading. We are grieving for the jobs that we can no longer do, the jobs that are now gone or changed forever. We are grieving for the business we were building that we may now have to restart all over again or give up on our dreams for now. We are grieving for the relationships that won’t survive being in self-isolation together. We are grieving for our children whose mental health and education have been impacted.
Nobody has escaped the pandemic, directly or indirectly everyone has been affected. When this is over … and it will be over … the world will continue to grieve because that is how grief works. Everyone is going through a roller coaster of emotions. It is accepted that the many emotions associated with grieving include shock, denial, pain, guilt, anger, bargaining, depression, reconstruction, acceptance and hope. I am lucky and live in a wonderful community on the east coast of Scotland. In the past few months, I have heard stories that relate to most of the above.
Anger – a young family out walking on their daily exercise as a household together, when a man yelled at them from his window that they were “being selfish and he hoped they died”. How on earth was the mother meant to explain that to her young children? Although she understood the man was coming from a place of fear and anger, all part of grief, it was a very difficult situation.
Denial – the cyclist and running clubs who continued to travel to scenic areas and gather en masse despite all the warnings not to. The locals who reacted with anger.
Pain – families and friends are grieving but being unable to say goodbye in person, having to do so via the internet and unable to attend funerals for those they loved.
Guilt – for those who are unable to visit their family and friends in care homes or hospital because of the safety restrictions.
Depression – whether at home alone or with families, depression like a pandemic, can impact upon anyone, at any time.
Hope – the key workers and countless volunteers who are selflessly supporting and helping those within their communities who need their support.
Reconstruction – we all need to start work on rebuilding our lives.
There will be those waiting to get back into the routine of working outside their own home or going to the shops. Others may struggle with going into the outside world again. It will take time to accept whatever the new normal will be or what we can make of it. The thing to hold onto in these strange times is that everyone is going through much the same thing, in different ways, at different stages, but all the same. There will be many whose feelings of anxiety are heightened and may be struggling to even leave their own home. Whatever you are going through, remember that talking with a Cognitive Hypnotherapist can help you.
They can support you in rebuilding your life. Some of us will want a different life to the one we were living before the pandemic whilst others will want to return to what they had. Many people want to live by a new set of values and beliefs, regardless of whether they have to return to their old job, their private life, their core values and beliefs may change forever.
A lot of us have had to learn that we are not as in control of our lives as we thought, or would like to be. That in fact, all we can control are our emotions and how we respond to any given situation. A Quest trained Cognitive Hypnotherapist can help you to make sense of what has happened to you during these strange times. To help you rebuild the life you want and deserve.
