If You Can’t Accept the Death of a Love One, Consider Counseling

The death of friend or family member is one of the most traumatic events that people must experience. Practically no one escapes it. Most people’s bereavement period encompasses intense feelings of lament, disbelief and detachment, and even anger and guilt. The intensity of the mourners’ feelings eventually deescalate, they accept the death and move forward. (That’s certainly not to imply that the survivors don’t continue to think about and miss their loved ones!)

For a number of individuals, however, their sense of loss is debilitating and doesn’t abate. Persistent complex bereavement disorder (PCBD) is indicated when anguished emotions last so long and are so extreme that it’s exceptionally difficult for people to pull through their loss and resume their daily lives. 

Talking about your grief with a therapist can help you climb out of PCBD. Mars & Venus Counseling Center is committed to using empathy, patience and a broad spectrum of knowledge to help those with PCBD. People going through the grieving process respond to a variety of approaches. Our healing is tailored to each patient’s needs.

PCBD strikes those who are in an enduring, amplified state of mourning that keeps them from healing; or, the mourning even escalates. Signs of PCBD include: 

• obsessive sorrow, rumination and pain over the death. 
• a compulsive preoccupation with or an excessive avoidance of reminders of the death.
• a constant and deep longing for the deceased.
• isolating yourself.
• depression, guilt or self-blame.
• believing that you could have stopped the death.
• emotional barriers that stop you from resuming daily life.
• a yearning that you had died along with your loved one.
• not wanting to live your life without that person.

Though there’s no “textbook method” of grieving, individuals who show symptoms of PCBD 16 months after a person’s death should consider seeking help from a mental health professional. The therapists at Mars & Venus Counseling Center are dedicated to the care and comfort of every patient. We maintain a position at the forefront of advances in therapy and offer effective solutions to treat you. For more information about our practice and array of services, please don’t hesitate to call our office today.