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- Path: sparky!uunet!darwin.sura.net!mips!samsung!news.cs.indiana.edu!bsu-cs!joemays
- From: joemays@bsu-cs.bsu.edu (Joseph F. Mays)
- Newsgroups: alt.support
- Subject: Loss and how to adjust
- Message-ID: <2396@bsu-cs.bsu.edu>
- Date: 22 Jul 92 16:12:14 GMT
- Distribution: alt.support
- Organization: Dept of CS Ball State University Muncie In
- Lines: 33
-
- ----- News saved at 22 Jul 92 12:53:22 GMT
- In article <1992Jul21.191115.12686@rchland.ibm.com> Pooder@vnet.ibm.com, but I can't receive e-mail, so forget it. writes:
- >This looks like a good place to find some suggestions of how to get on with
- >my life after having an almost unbearable loss. I hope it is.
-
- You are suffering from an extremely severe case of survivor's syndrome.
- Your letter indicates that you are in therapy, but says nothing about the
- type of therapist you are seeing. There are therapists who specialize
- in dealing with survivor's syndrome, and you should definitely be seeing
- one. Many therapists will be unable to deal with the degree of pain and
- guilt you have coming down on you. In this situation, they might even
- make things worse. Find a survivor's syndrome specialist in your area
- and speak with him or her.
-
- In the meantime, ask yourself two very basic simple questions: Are you
- eating? Are you sleeping?
-
- These questions are so basic that they might almost seem glib or silly,
- but they aren't. Grief and guilt will keep you from eating and keep you
- awake, and the physical drain caused by this will make the rest of your
- life difficult, which only increases the problems. Make a schedule of
- basic daily things, and stick to it. You will almost have to relearn
- how to deal with simple things in life. There is nothing wrong with
- this. Stick to a schedule that will allow you to cope with basic
- daily processes. As you cope with simple things, your belief in your-
- self and your ability to take on more will increase.
-
- I would wish you luck, but it isn't necessary. There will come a time
- when this is past you. You will never forget it, but you will be able
- to forgive yourself and move on. For now, just get a handle on the
- basic things in life.
-
- Joe
-