HOW DO WE BETTER UNDERSTAND THE PARTICULAR GRIEF OF LOSING SOMEONE DURING THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC?
Losing someone during the COVID-19 pandemic is an experience of grief on grief.
The COVID-19 requirement of social distancing makes losing a loved one even more difficult.
The loss of not being allowed to be with them to say “goodbye” is so hard.
For some, not being able to hold their hand or to spend time with them after they die is hard.
Not being able to be with other loved ones who are also grieving is hard.
Not being able to have a visitation and limiting the number of people who can attend the memorial service is hard.
Postponing the memorial service is hard.
Not being able to get physical support from others is hard.
It’s all incredibly hard.
The people I know who have lost loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic are experiencing things that can seem unbearable. Not only the loss of the person they love, they experience a myriad of secondary losses, including the ones mentioned. Grieving gets postponed. Patience and compassion helps along the way.
The number of people I know who have lost a loved one during COVID-19 is growing and will unfortunately continue to grow for the foreseeable future.
Post 4 of a 4 Part Series