Using Denial to Cope with Grief and Depression - Winifred Gallagher

[rawmouseius]

denail is the best

[fibrotree]

Most people I know in denial hurt other people. Not a good idea

[thegrievingmother]

I lost my 20 year old six months ago, and it astounds me what people will tell you, you should be doing or thinking. I have become VERY good at not displaying my grief, because it makes YOU uncomfortable. It is a relief when I find I can talk to someone that has experienced a loss because they understand the place your in, because they are in it too.

[xTRUExHATEx]

You missed the entire point. The suggestion to not obsess on your loss is not so that you don't make others uncomfortable. The research suggests that suppressing your grief (i.e. choosing to focus your attention elsewhere) will decrease YOUR suffering.

[NaytronNeanderer]

Her mom sounds like my grandmother. Old, happy, and... Catholic; which just isn't an option for many of us.

[befranklintoo]

freud invented the cloning of humans & control thought.

it is new world order pandemic of the mind.

most believers are born empty of thoughts and find this theory

of human behavior to be correct. odd though the mental Hospitals of America destroy with the use of drugs. it is a weapon of the most clever kind.

[garvess]

I would rather be an honest 60 year old in a coffin than a deluded 95 year old in a rocking chair.

[CONSIDERyou]

You will never be an honest 60 year old.

[garvess]

You must be my autobiographer. Tell me a bit more about myself. Idiot.

[CONSIDERyou]

You call someone other than yourself your "autobiographer," then you call him an idiot. Wow.

[MoistKumquat]

Good point. Garvess must be a fool who thinks he is wise.

[fibrotree]

awesome!!!

[franksvenatra]

Common sense. But coming to terms with a problem doesn't mean that you let it consume or define you as she seems to imply

[blackiron60]

This is why Wakes became such a cultural institution in Ireland - it's better to celebrate the life of the person than mourn them.

[talkinghead22]

People just do the best with what they got.

[ffangs]

It seems like there would be a big difference between someone who is in 'denial' by believing their loved one is in heaven, or everything is in God's hands, versus someone who is just trying to avoid thinking about something distressing.

[freesk8]

There is a balance.

It is a mistake to totally repress something painful.

It is also a mistake to dwell obsessively on your loss.

We need to find our own middle ground, which will be at different points for different people.

[evidencebasedliving]

i love it when they prove psychoanalysis wrong.

[EnterNameHere55]

yep denial its not just a river in africa its the best way to not deal with shit

[mikezephyr]

yes, repression and denial can make you able to build widgets, but it won't make you a whole person.

in my experience, a problem 'shared' across and between people eases burdens. sadly, there are precious few options like that in an alienating society.

shutting out mental and physical responses to very real trauma is fucked up.