Anticipatory grief is common for family caregivers who are helping loved ones at the end of their lives. You see and know what is happening, and your emotions are showing up in advance of the actual event.

Anger

You can experience anger as a part of grief for a variety of reasons. Your loved one may be leaving far sooner than you want her to or you could be angry at a specific illness or health condition. You may not even completely understand why you’re angry.

Numbness

Feeling numb can go hand in hand with overwhelming sadness. Part of this can be because you’re feeling so very much that you can’t even process those emotions any longer. As a result, your brain feels as if it shuts down. As the numbness fades, you may start to feel emotions you didn’t realize were a part of your grieving process.

Guilt

Family caregivers seem to often feel that they should have done something different or that they could have spared their loved one some of what they went through. This can happen even if there’s nothing else that you could have realistically done. Guilt doesn’t always make sense, but that isn’t enough to banish it.

Fear

You may not even understand why you’re feeling fear, but it can be a tremendous part of grief. Much of that might be because you’re not sure how life without your loved one will be, so you’re afraid of that unknown. You may also be afraid that you’ll lose other people that you love. Those fears are normal, but they can be paralyzing.

Physical Symptoms

There are a whole host of physical symptoms that can be connected to grief. You might find yourself unable to sleep or eat, for example, or you might find that you’re sick all of the time. These are all signs from your body that you’re dealing with emotional issues that are creating physical signs. Managing your grief can usually help you to alleviate the physical symptoms.

If you’re not sure what you can do to manage your own grief, there is help available. Hospice elder care providers can point you in the right direction if you’re not sure where to turn.

If you or an aging loved-one are considering hospice care in Bensalem, PA, please contact the caring staff at Serenity Hospice today. Call (215) 867-5405.