7 Ways to Help a Loved One Grieve

When someone close to you loses someone dear to them, you don’t want to come packed with the cliché sympathy statements. “My condolences,” or even, “I’m so sorry for your loss,” while touching, may not be what they want to hear for the hundredth time. To help your grieving friend or loved one further, here are a few of the best ways to help a loved one grieve.

1. Be there to listen

The most important thing to do when someone has lost someone they love is to be there for them. Many times, those grieving are getting bombarded of similar stories of grief. People try to relate to the person grieving with sad stories of their own, but that may not be what they need. Be there as an ear to listen instead of someone else to add to the melting pot of stories of lost loved ones while they grieve of their own lost loved one.

2. Don’t compare your experience to theirs

To branch off what was mentioned into a little piece of advice of its own, stop comparing your previous losses with their current loss. While it may be fitting for years in the future when you’re both strolling down memory lane, it’s not best for right after they’ve lost their loved one.

3. Keep it off social media

Your friend or loved one doesn’t need a Facebook post days later to remind them, yet again, that they’ve lost someone dear to them. Keep their loss off social media and don’t broadcast it to the world – instead, simply be there as much as you can for your loved one while they go through their personal grieving process.

4. Don’t mention their appearance

Let’s not pretend that grief is a pretty thing to witness – you get the full, ugly human experience when you encounter someone who’s lost someone they held close.

For a few days, weeks, or maybe even months, they don’t need to be reminded of the dark circles under their eyes or their disheveled appearance. They don’t need to be told by yet another person how they’ve lost weight or hair. Grief takes a toll on the human body – just help them mend theirs as best you can.

5. Help out with practical tasks

Sometimes, when you’re deep in the pit of depression, the very idea of getting up and going grocery shopping, handling regular household duties, and managing adult responsibilities can seem like a staggeringly impossible feat.

Don’t emptily say “let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.” They’ve heard that before and they won’t accept help because they don’t even know what to ask.

Visit them and tackle the dirty dishes you see in the sink.

Help them make a grocery list, or make a phone call, or get up and move.

Not only will you be helping them accomplish things they practically already gave up on, but they’re far more likely to accept your help this way.

6. Give an expression of love

Broadway Basketeers can deliver hand-crafted sympathy gift baskets of all varieties to your loved one in their time of need. Not only will it show them that you’ve been thinking of them, but it may put a smile on their face in this devastating time for them. Whether they like chocolate, savory treats, salty snacks, bath products, or something else entirely, we have the gourmet gift baskets that can help you take everything to the next level.

7. Stay available and connected

Don’t leave them alone for too long (within reason – sometimes, after all, they may want to be alone). Show them that you can be readily available and stay connected to them while they work through their grief.

It can take 18 to 24 months to recover from bereavement, and grief affects everyone differently, so just try to stay conscious of what you can do to keep helping your loved one through this trying time. Now that you have these ways to help a loved one grieve, you can go through the grieving process with them more easily and be capable of handling the hitches that come along the way.