Podcast: Loss – How to navigate this painful journey

It's something we go through at various times of our lives and it doesn't get any easier. Losing someone or something can affect an individual greatly and we've got a clinical psychologist to bring some comfort

Sometimes life happens and leaves us with a great smile and joy in our hearts. Other times, events and experiences might leave us at a loss for words and a heaviness in our hearts. You are not alone. In this week’s Health For Mzansi podcast, we talk about how loss, change, trauma or grief can impact one’s emotional, mental, and physical state of being.

To navigate us through this discussion, we chatted with Angela Deh, a clinical psychologist based in Rosebank, Gauteng. Deh, along with a multidisciplinary team, is trained to work in psychiatric spaces and deals with major mental health conditions such as bipolar, schizophrenia, major depression, and anxiety.

She explains that these conditions are often a set of symptoms that manifest as a result of someone experiencing loss, or pain or is in the process of grieving.

Major loss can be experienced with the loss of a job or a loved one. However, Deh also identifies spaces of grief and loss when we are gaining something, like starting a new job or a new relationship. In the event of starting anew, Deh explains that we have to make peace with what has happened and close that chapter.

Some of the things that we might experience in the space of grief and loss are disbelief, sadness, numbness, yearning, a sense of frustration, a great deal of anxiety, and inattention (inability to focus).

In the episode, Deh also discusses:

The emotional and mental toll on us, as well as the impact on the physical body.
The natural response is to suppress the emotions and display characteristics of “being strong”.
The biggest tool to process and make meaning of what has happened to us is to feel. This approach activates a space for dealing with the experience and ultimately healing.