Hope In The Midst Of Horror For Orlando

Devastating and heartbreaking news woke the City Beautiful Sunday morning, June 12th, 2016. Pulse, a LGBT community nightclub in Downtown Orlando, suffered a massive inhumane attack from a young 29 year old man and American citizen named Omar Mateen who gunned down 49 people and seriously injured over 50, claiming allegiance to terrorism and ISIS. The real motive for this attack is still under investigation. Nonetheless, the immense cruelty makes us consider what a disturbed mind will lead a person to do.

Therefore, we raise the question how is human life losing its value due to personal and/or fanatic reasons, social difference and/or cultural intolerance. The deceased family members are mourning today the loss of their beloved ones due to the devastating tragedy and facing the symptoms of grief/loss.

Grieving can be painful and a long lasting process which needs time to be processed adequately by each person. Realistically, we cannot be prepared for the loss of our loved ones even in cases of terminal illness as for instance, Cancer, Alzheimer’s. In case of loss due to a tragedy like the Pulse nightclub shooting, the impact can be even more devastating because of the unpredictable and brutal nature of the event. Below are a few tips to help us through the grieving process.

Total Life Counseling Center’s President interviewed below by Canadian National News for Grief Tips 

4 Tips to Help us to Process Grief :

Look for a good support system. Being around friends, grief/loss support groups, or people who empathize with our pain will help us feel heard.

Engage in a new routine. After a loss, we tend to identify with our deceased loved one through the same routine we shared before. But, it just increases the feelings of inadequacy and pain. Therefore, building a new routine can help us practice healthy activities. This gives our body time to rest from grieving and to heal stronger.

Create a memory project for the deceased loved one. This project can help rebuild meaning and ease the grieving process. Once we establish a new meaning for our grief we begin to interact with the loss in a healthier way.

You should look for professional help. A mental health professional can help us find healthy ways to cope with our pain. They can assist with adjusting to the loss.

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AUTHOR: Anna Vita, M.S

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