Ever feel like your dog has a way of sensing your emotions? These 5 tips are essential for including dogs in your grief support system.
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Healing grief by loving your Dog. - Willwerscheid Funeral Home and Cremation - Serving St. Paul and West St. Paul Minnesota
Typically we notice the larger effects of grief, like depression and inactivity, but those grieving can experience some more subtle effects as well. One small but common complaint is memory loss.
This is a basic, 101 tip, but it is an especially important one when you’re grieving. If, before the loss, you were able to keep your life organized in your head it can be hard to accept that isn’t possible anymore. Your head is now consumed with a zillion other thoughts and anxieties, so it can be a big help to write things down to help you keep track of even the basic things. You may not have to create endless to-do lists forever, but in the short term, it can help!
Loneliness has a tendency to take its toll on anyone, but it is especially prevalent, and harmful, to our nation's senior population.
The feeling of ongoing isolation and loneliness in seniors has been known to cause serious health problems and even death. Given the consequences of loneliness, many in the healthcare industry have recommended that it be diagnosed and treated with the same rigor applied to any other disease or chronic condition.
Here's some info about senior isolation:
Loneliness increases the likelihood of mortality by 26 percent.
Lacking social connections is as damaging to health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
Coronary bypass patients who report feeling lonely have a mortality rate 5 times higher than other patients 30 days post-surgery.
Lonely individuals have a 64 percent increased chance of developing clinical dementia.
People who are lonely report 5 percent more severe symptoms in the common cold than those who are less lonely.
Wishing you all a safe and fun Halloween, from our family to yours!
Too much stress can have tremendous effects on your sleep, concentration, and health!
Though we are bound to encounter stress at times, the way we manage it plays a huge role in combating the way it affects us.
Here are a few ways to ward off the unhealthy effects of stress:
-Practice Mindfulness - this doesn't always mean sitting still for hours and chanting Mindfulness is the practice of just sitting still and living in the moment, without thought or worry about the past or present. This can also be combined with:
-Deep Breathing - take long, slow, deep breaths (also known as abdominal or belly breathing). As you breathe, you gently disengage your mind from distracting thoughts and sensations.
-Prayer or therapy - sometimes just talking out whatever emotions you're experiencing can lift a heavy burden, even if you just choose to vent to a friend.
Faye M Merritt service November 21, 2020