Table of contents:
- Do this when a friend is feeling sad and grieving
- 1. Understand the situation
- 2. Take the time to be there
- 3. Give support
- 4. Offer what you can do to help
Friends or companions become a part of your life as a social person. You can meet them in your office, campus, even in a community that you join. In making friends, you not only spend fun time together, but also be there when he feels sad. Don't worry, here are some things you can do when a friend is feeling sad and grieving.
Do this when a friend is feeling sad and grieving
Sadness is a part of everyday emotions. There are many things that trigger it, including grieving the loss of a loved one. Seeing a friend who is grieving, certainly makes you sad too, right?
In order to reduce the sadness he feels, you can try the following things:
1. Understand the situation
Dealing with friends who are feeling sad is not an easy matter. If you take a wrong step, instead of making him feel better, he may end up even more sad, stressed, and depressed. It even made friends relations worse.
That is why you really need to put yourself in that situation. The trick, understand yourself as a supporter or person who supports and helps your friends.
Not placing yourself as if you are the one facing the sadness. It is feared that it will make you more emotional and have excessive feelings of grief. So, a sense of empathy and sympathy is still needed. However, stay within reasonable limits.
On the other hand, you do not trivialize or compare the feelings of sadness your friend is having with what you are experiencing. This is because everyone expresses sadness in different ways.
2. Take the time to be there
Your friend who is sad needs some time alone. But as a social being, in the end he still needs other people to rise from this sadness. That means, your presence is needed to make him stronger. However, your presence must be at the right time.
If your friend wants to be alone, give him time to let off steam. Unfortunately, often some of you say, "if you need help, don't hesitate to let me know." However, that does not mean you are just waiting for a cue from him.
Sometimes there are friends who need who you are, but are uncomfortable or reluctant to reveal it. So it's best to watch her from afar and be by her side when she starts to open up.
3. Give support
The next step when dealing with a sad and grieving friend is to show how sad you feel about what she is going through.
The Help Guide page lists some tips you can follow in starting a conversation, showing your grief, and giving support to a grieving friend, such as:
- Say your grief in simple language, "Please grieve for the departure …." and good wishes to himself, "I hope you will endure this."
- Let your friend share their sadness. You will probably hear him repeating the same words over and over, so face it with patience.
- You need to know that repeating and telling what your friend is feeling can sometimes help reduce their sadness. You just have to be quiet and listen to it.
- Then ask how he feels right now, "Are you feeling better now?"
- If your friend doesn't feel better, let him know that it's okay if he wants to cry out of grief.
4. Offer what you can do to help
Recovering from feeling sad because a loved one has left it takes a long time. Make sure you are always connected to him. You can also offer yourself, if indeed he seems having trouble getting back to normal activities. One of them, ask him if he needs a psychologist or not.
Explain to him that the effects of grieving for too long are not good for his health and life as a whole. Then, also explain that asking a psychologist for help is not a bad choice so that they don't feel embarrassed about their condition.
