When talking about grief, we often think of the loss of life. But we need to also pay attention to what Manu Keirse, a Belgian researcher, calls "living loss": the lifelong mourning resulting from living with physical or mental illness or disability, either your own or that of someone close.

If you are in such a situation, perhaps you have built a strong and happy life around it.

However, we should recognize that not everyone manages to cope so easily. Some go through living loss that profoundly affects  their daily existence. If that is your case, know that there is nothing wrong with you. You have every reason to become aware of and address these difficulties.

The same is true for other "non-death losses": the loss of a job, home, or homeland;

a relative, friend, colleague or neighbour who moves on;

the loss of freedom, autonomy, trust, innocence...



It may be tempting to compare situations and establish a "hierarchy of suffering".

You may  feel that your experience is not "serious" enough to seek support.

Though indeed we need to be tactful with others, we also have a responsibility to deal with our own pain. The enormity of one person's loss does not cancel out the reality of another's. And many factors may influence your response or complicate your situation. What may be experienced by one as a minor event, could mean the world to another.

What you are facing, no-one else faces.

Together we can dig deeper to understand how you can face it more effectively.