Writing as Sanctuary: Carrying Grief Word by Word

"Grief hits hard. It can be sudden - being fired from your job, losing your house to fire, a loved one gone in an instant. Or it can grow slowly, starting with small bits of emotional pain, such as from a chronic disease leading to increasing disability, or emotional distance from a loved one widening over the years, or a partner besieged by dementia. These small bits combine and persist until you are under a weight so heavy that you can finally name it: grief."

"Sometimes grief comes camouflaged as "normal life," leaving you grappling to identify the reasons for feeling bereft. Any transition, even a seemingly positive one, can trigger this feeling - from moving to another city for work, committing to a relationship, having a child, or the retirement of a spouse. The ending of any of the various eras of life can trigger grief; a mourning for what your life was and for who you were before this transition."

"Whatever shape grief takes, it has a profound impact and needs attention. Writing about your grief can help to lighten the weight of it. In a 2023 interview, Lisa Shulman, MD, FAAN, professor of neurology at the University of Maryland and author of Before and After Loss: A Neurologist's Perspective on Loss, Grief, and Our Brain, explained: "The brain's response to traumatic loss can result in disorientation and heightened anxiety that can disrupt sleep and increase disturbing dreams by night and intrusive thoughts, such as flashbacks, by day. Understanding these brain mechanisms has led to interventions such as journaling and art therapy that help reconnect emotional and cognitive memories.""

Grief appears suddenly or accumulates gradually from small, persistent losses until it becomes a heavy burden. Transitions, including seemingly positive changes like moving, new relationships, parenthood, or a spouse's retirement, can trigger mourning for prior roles and identity. Traumatic loss can produce disorientation, heightened anxiety, disrupted sleep, disturbing dreams, and intrusive daytime thoughts such as flashbacks. Interventions that reconnect emotional and cognitive memories, including journaling and art therapy, can reduce those symptoms. Journaling provides a simple, private outlet requiring only pen and paper or a device, allows nonverbal processing, and supports small, honest steps toward coping.

Read at Psychology Today