Grief Resources during Covid-19

There are a great many wonderful resources out there about coping with grief - books, articles, books, blogs, books. So many books.

If you come across any that were written before 2020, you may have a similar experience as me, reading them and thinking “Sure, that’s a great idea normally, but Covid…” 

Photo by Robert Anasch on Unsplash

So many mourning ideas found in these books and other resources are simply not feasible right now due to the ongoing pandemic.

Right now, in most circumstances, we cannot:

• Hold a usual funeral, memorial, or celebration of life with the typical rituals and typical attendance 

• Attend in-person support groups or in-person individual therapy

• Spend quality togetherness time with a lot of extended family or friend groups

• Travel to places that have significant meaning

• Volunteer with organizations that your loved one supported

Covid-19 has been significantly impacting the United States for about a full year now. We have already hit or will hit soon (depending on the measurements being used) 500,000 deaths in the US. 

That’s half a million people deceased due to this pandemic. Our country has had the greatest amount of deaths out of any country in the world, and each individual death also represents so many people grieving that death. It’s as if each death has a ripple effect, extending outward, impacting the other people around them. That’s a lot of grief for a massive amount of people.

This grief is going to continue, as more deaths and other Covid-related losses continue to occur. 

The grief will likely even continue well long after the deaths specific to the pandemic have been significantly decreased or stopped. Grief does not run on any particular timeline. Additionally, I believe that right now a great many people are existing in a state of heightened anxiety and they may not even fully experience their grief until they feel like they are living in a state of relative safety again, after the virus has been more contained.

Since we’re still in a pandemic, what can we do with our grief? Some ideas include:

• Connect with friends and loved ones via Facetime or similar methods as well as some in-person support depending on circumstances

• Read some grief books that make you feel seen or understood; write about your feelings and experiences in a journal

• Harness technology to start or get involved with meaningful projects that honor your loved one’s memory

• Continue to get grief and loss support via online forums, virtual support groups, and individual telehealth therapy

 Specifically, Grieving.com provides online discussion forums for many different types of losses. GriefShare is a good resource for finding support groups. Grief in Common allows people to connect with others who have had similar losses.

 Please reach out to me if you want to learn about telehealth grief and loss therapy with me. I’m also happy to assist if you’re looking for more specifically niched support groups or resources, if you need a grief therapist outside of my licensed states of New Jersey and California, or if you need a specific referral to a different type of therapist.