How to deal with grief after the loss of your Dog
Losing your furry best friend can be really hard. According to a study by the department of animal science at the University of Hawaii (USA), 30% of owners feel pain for six months or more, while for 12% it is a very traumatic event in their lives.
Begoña Elizalde, psychologist coordinating the grieving and lossing working group of the Official School of Psychology of Catalonia (COPC), believes that it greatly influences the way you lose your pet when carrying your duel.
The way a dog dies influences the duel of its owner.
Sacrificing your dog is very painful, due to the feeling of guilt for making such an important decision and the distressing images that we must witness. Whereas when it’s sudden, for example, a hit-and-run, you can’t prepare and stay in shock,” the expert says.
When a dog dies at home, it has positive effects for the dog because it is in a familiar and familiar environment where it is affectionate, and on the other, you can say goodbye to it. But it’s not always easy, so the dilemma arises if you want to face this situation or if you prefer another ‘solve the problem’ because for you it is impossible on an emotional level.
Many who have had a pet know that it may be similar to the loss of a family member or close friend.
In fact, The journal Perspectives in Psychiatric Care noted that this link can affect physical and mental health and reaffirms that the reaction of mourning after death “in many ways is comparable to that experienced with a family member.” They claim that in the contemporary era there has been an increase in families or individuals who choose not to have children, but adopt deep relationships with the animals they care for.
For this reason, his death can be one of the most difficult moments in a person’s life, even though on a social level he is not recognized as the same emotional and mood impact that is lived with that of a human being.
Elizalde points out that there is still a lack of sensitivity to these issues, however, a sentence that we live in a very hedonistic society that flees from pain and that only proclaims the philosophy carpe diem, something that is not beneficial since suffering is part of life.
How to deal with grief?
The expert says it’s the same four phases you go through when someone close to you dies:
The one with denial,
Where we haven’t been able to cope yet, but the psychologist considers it beneficial to get rid of or store our pet’s toys and objects.
The expression of emotions.
Sadness, melancholy, rage… Unless you have been able to watch him in some way, Elizalde recommends performing a farewell ritual, surrounding yourself with friends and being lenient in tears, as well as not requiring you to be well when you are not yet. In addition, he believes that if the situation requires it may be necessary to ask for a few days at work.
Reconstruction.
You realize that with the emptiness left by your furry friend, a lot of daily routines have been broken that you weren’t aware of before, and it’s time to create new ones.
Acceptance.
There will come a time when you will remember your dog with a lot of love, and every time you think about it, you will feel a great affection and your heart will no longer break into a thousand pieces.
Of course everyone lives them differently and we don’t all take the same time to recover, even some people bet on the adoption of another partner, which they should not feel bad about since they must realize that it is not about ‘replacing’
How to deal with grief after the loss of your Dog
