Trauma, Grief, and Loss Resources
When faced with trauma, grief, and loss, self-care becomes critically important. We encourage you to take advantage of CopeColumbia’s mental health resources and to take advantage of the resources below for managing shock, stress, trauma, and other life stressors.
Trauma
Trauma occurs when individuals are exposed to events that involve witnessing death, risk of harm to oneself or those who are cared for, or violence. People can experience trauma reactions when they directly witness these events, when they learn about such events occurring to a loved one, or if they are exposed to details indirectly. These traumatic events can overwhelm our normal ways of coping with stress—even the most resilient people who generally handle stress well will experience emotions or symptoms that may be unfamiliar to them in the face of traumatic events. First responders and other medical staff who have been working with COVID-19 patients in New York City have experienced a level of stress well beyond what most have been trained to handle. Fortunately, even when traumatic events affect us deeply, there is excellent evidence that we can adapt, learn additional coping strategies, and foster resiliency in ourselves and each other. Here we share some resources that experts in trauma have found to be helpful in understanding and coping with traumatic stress.
Loss, Grief, and Complicated Grief
The loss of a close relationship is a profound experience. When we experience the loss of a loved one or a close friend or colleague, our lives are deeply impacted. Feelings of grief are a natural reaction to loss, and commonly include longing, sadness, confusion, anger, resentment, anxiety, or a sense of detachment. The process of mourning, or integrating acute grief feelings, often entails experiencing waves of painful emotions, interspersed with periods of connection, meaning, and hope. Although there is no right or wrong way to grieve, by revisiting painful emotions, and confronting practical life changes following loss, we ultimately find a sense of peace, and healing, with time.
Certain situations may disrupt the process of mourning, thereby making grieving “complicated.” Many who have lost a loved one to COVID-19 have been deprived of an opportunity to say goodbye, due to a changeable medical course or the need to remain socially distant. Additionally, certain thoughts, feelings, and behaviors also stand to disrupt the natural process of grief. Intense feelings of anger, non-acceptance of a loss, or feelings of survivor guilt, can inhibit the grieving process or make it more difficult. For front line healthcare professionals, losing a colleague to COVID-19, while having to continue the professional demands of caring for others without ample opportunity to grieve, is an additional complicating factor. Additionally, the sheer volume of patient loss due to COVID-19, highlights trauma as a related factor that intensifies a sense of being “stuck” in the intense emotional pain associated with initial acute grief.
Developed by Kathy Shear, MD, Complicated Grief Treatment (CGT) is the most extensively tested treatment for complicated grief and has the most evidence base as a grief treatment, with studies showing over 70% of those who received CGT much improved. For more information on CGT, please see these resources from Columbia's Center for Complicated Grief.
General Resources
- Columbia’s Center for Complicated Grief offers these guidelines for Managing Bereavement Around Coronavirus (COVID-19)
- The Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress offers these guidelines for Sustaining the Well-being of Healthcare Personnel During Coronavirus and Other Infectious Disease Outbreaks
- The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy offers guidelines on What to Expect When Being counseled for Trauma and PTSD