Grief is a natural response to a loss. Often, that loss is a death. It can also be from other types of loss, such as a divorce, breakup, or career setback. 

A serious illness or sudden accident can also trigger feelings of grief and loss. You may grieve for the life you had or the person you were before these changes. 

You may also feel grief over regrets—things you have done or not done. You can even grieve a community trauma, such as a mass shooting or natural disaster, even if it didn't directly affect you.

The first feelings of grief are intense sadness or anguish. For most people, this gets better over time. It's also common for grief to linger in a way that needs treatment to get better.

Intense and prolonged grief can get in the way of self-care. You may stop bathing or eating and withdraw from work, school, or family. Some people may turn to alcohol or drugs to help them cope. In some cases, intense or ongoing grief may lead to thoughts or actions of self-harm or suicide.

For some people, intense or ongoing grief can turn into mental health conditions, like depression or post-traumatic stress disorder.

It may also manifest as prolonged grief disorder. This is intense, ongoing grief for more than a year for adults or for 6 months for children.

Symptoms include:

• Loss of identity: Feeling as though part of you has died
• Intense loneliness: Feeling all alone or detached from others
• Disbelief: Not believing the loss took place
• Avoidance: Ignoring signs that the loss took place
• Intense emotions: Feeling very angry or bitter over the loss
• Emotional numbness: Finding it hard to feel any emotions
• Stalled life: You may find it hard to talk with friends and family, pursue interests or plan for the future
• Despair: Feeling that life is meaningless

The Center for Grief and Healing at Carilion helps people going through all types of grief and loss. Our grief and loss services focus on effective, supportive, and therapeutic services. We care for people, families, and communities affected by grief and loss. 

Our grief and loss care includes:

• Outpatient therapy: Our mental health counseling includes grief therapy and loss counseling. It may include cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), or a type of CBT called complicated grief treatment.
• Support groups: We have many grief and loss support groups.
• Emergency mental health care: Intense grief can lead to thoughts or actions of self-harm or suicide. It can also lead to abuse of drugs or alcohol. Our emergency mental health care provides care when you’re in crisis.

Carilion's Center for Grief and Healing utilizes a holistic, whole-person approach to help you and your loved ones deal with grief and loss. We hold special events and programs throughout the year to help you through grief and loss. Look for these on Carilion's calendar of events.

Regular grief and loss events include: 

• The Burden Boat: An interactive work of art in the atrium of the Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital lobby. Anyone who comes to Carilion can write down their burdens on paper and place them in the boat. We burn the papers twice a year in a special "burden release" ceremony. 
• Camp Treehouse: A free day camp for children and teens up to grade 8 who have lost a loved one. The camp provides a caring, safe environment to explore their feelings and concerns, connect with peers, and engage in healing activities.
• Forget-Me-Nots: Flowers planted along the riverbank of the Keeley Healing Garden in a special seed-planting ceremony for those affected by perinatal or infant loss. There are also remembrance events in New River Valley and Roanoke. It's a time to grieve, a time to comfort, and a time to acknowledge how these losses have touched our lives.
• Pediatric memorial service: An event at the Dr. Robert L.A. Keeley Healing Arts Garden to honor the lives of babies and children who have passed away over the past 3 years. Each family receives a butterfly to release as we speak your child's name aloud to honor and remember each precious life.
• Living with grief meetups: Workshops at various locations to help you connect with others living with grief.