Table of contents:
- The impact of the death of a close friend
- How to deal with the death of a friend
- 1. Being in a supportive environment
- 2. Accept reality
- 3. Take care of yourself
- 4. Vacationing or taking time off
- 5. Entertain yourself
The death of a close friend will certainly have a psychological impact that lasts quite a long time. This form of loss is very understandable because death is an event that will happen. However, what are the effects of this incident?
The impact of the death of a close friend
In 2019 there is a study reported from Plos One about the psychological effects of a close friend's death. In the study, a survey was conducted that was followed by more than 26,000 participants and about 9,000 of whom had at least one friend who had died.
According to the head of the research team, dr. Wai-man (Raymond) Liu, who mourned the death of his friend, experienced a drastic decline in his physical and mental health. Not only that, emotional stability and social life also have an effect.
In addition, the impact of the death of a close friend can reduce a person's interactions with other people so that it is not uncommon for them to have difficulty getting help to recover from this loss. This generally happens to those who don't have too many friends.
On the other hand, for those who find it easier to socialize with others, it is easier to get help and support when grieving.
This discovery raises a problem because it is not uncommon for the death of a friend to be considered to have little effect on a person's life. In fact, it is not like that.
Therefore, a sufficiently accurate strategy is needed to deal with an incident like this so that the impact of the death of a close friend does not develop and carries too large a negative effect.
How to deal with the death of a friend
When you feel lost, especially because of the death of a friend, the repercussions will continue if you don't deal with it well.
It's normal to feel grieving for a few days, but if this holds you back, it can certainly change your life, right?
In order to reduce these effects, you can follow some of the tips below that might help you.
1. Being in a supportive environment
During difficult times like this, you may need support from people you care about. Starting from parents, spouses, friends, to people you can trust maybe can help you through this phase.
Try to confide in them. Doing this can make your feelings of grief feel lighter. These people will usually make you feel better and support you when you are sad.
2. Accept reality
When you lose a close friend, it's not uncommon for you to wonder why bad things happen to people you think are good. However, you may never get a definite answer why this happened.
Instead of looking for answers, you can accept the fact that your friend's death was an event that should have happened without the need to find out the answer. If you have accepted this fact, usually the burden on your heart feels lighter.
3. Take care of yourself
As previously explained, the impact of the death of a friend can affect your health. You prefer to contemplate the fate of the dead than yourself, and so you neglect your health.
Even though you may have lost your appetite or have difficulty sleeping, it is imperative that you pay attention to yourself so that you can maintain your health, both physically and emotionally.
4. Vacationing or taking time off
If the effects of the death of a close friend are stressing you out, you can take time off or take a vacation to give yourself a break.
Give yourself time to adapt to the loss. After that, keep yourself busy so that you don't think about these feelings too often.
5. Entertain yourself
Apart from getting support from other people, you also need to support yourself in moving forward by entertaining yourself. This may make you feel better than before. There are many ways to entertain yourself. Find what you love and do it.
For example, suppose your hobby is cooking. You can turn the hobby into a consolation by baking yourself a few cakes. Keeping yourself busy will likely reduce the feeling of grieving over the loss of your friend.
The impact of the death of a close friend actually has a different effect on each individual. Can they handle it easily or have difficulties? Even so, there is one thing to remember. Grieving is not forbidden, but thinking about it until it has a negative impact on your own health is certainly not what your friend wants.
