Are You Coping With Loss In A Healthy Way?
The loss of a pet, a friend, or a loved one can be overwhelming, especially for young people
who have never experienced grief and may not know what to do. The crushing sadness can
lead to unhealthy coping mechanisms such as denial or obsession. Use this quiz to help you
find out if you are dealing with loss healthily.
This interactive tool can help you determine whether you are coping with loss healthily.
There is no one correct way to grieve, but the inability to tolerate engulfing loss can lead to
unhealthy coping mechanisms.
Although this tool is not for diagnosis, it may help you find out whether you should seek help from your doctor.
Are You Coping With Loss In A Healthy Way?
Part of grieving is allowing yourself compassion and accepting that the feelings you are experiencing are okay and that there is no such thing as normal when it comes to loss. Some people experience tremendous sadness, while others’ emotions are mild or numbed. Others may experience grief physically as pain in the back or elsewhere.
However, a persistent and prolonged preoccupation with the grief – for more than six months – that interferes with your day-to-day life may indicate unhealthy coping mechanisms. If you are experiencing prolonged grief symptoms, consider talking to a primary care physician or licensed therapist.
How you answer the questions will determine your score. Your results will appear as one of the following:
Pass: You are healthily coping with grief.
Fail: You could benefit from more support during this difficult time
As with all check-up tools, this tool gives you a place to start. Remember that a pass score does not necessarily mean you’re coping with grief healthily. Also, a fail score does not always mean you are mourning loss unhealthily. However, using this tool is not a substitute for a thorough evaluation by a therapist.