Grief management is any strategy used by a person in order to mitigate the destructive effects of grieving on his or her life. As grieving is a highly personal process, there are many different methods of grief management. Most methods involve ordered processing of the event that is causing grief, and many involve communication with a non-grieving party for support and guidance. A person might seek help with grief management through mental health professionals, religion, or support groups. It is often noted that there is no correct way to grieve, but over time people have developed a diverse set of strategies that help different groups of humans overcome grief effectively.
When mental health professionals guide grief management, the process may involve talking through the grief, discussing emotions that coincide with grief, and perhaps even taking medication to help the grieving person regain stability. Psychiatrists in particular are frequently called upon to help with grief management. This is usually an effective method because professionals have significant amounts of training that allow them to suggest strategies that might be effective given one's personal psychological makeup.
Religious grief management often involves similar steps within a religious vocabulary. Emphasis may be placed on trusting in a higher power or accepting that the event that has caused grief was meant to happen. As grief is usually associated with loss and death, religion is a particularly appropriate place to seek grief counseling. Religion may offer answers to problems other disciplines must continue to question, such as whether people have souls.
Friends can be one of the best sources for help during grieving because they cannot only listen and talk through the grief process but also manage aspects of one's life that might otherwise spin out of control. Grieving people sometimes do not have the composure to go to work or school, pay bills, or take care of themselves. Mitigating the effects of grief means not allowing one's life to degrade while one mourns a loss. Friends can help keep everything in order while one regains composure.
There are more personal ways of dealing with grief. Some people find that art or writing helps. Others simply read books on the subject and find relief. The precise method used for management is less important than achieving results.
All methods of dealing with grief can be effective, but the most important part of grief management is attaining closure. Grieving is not a process that can continue for years, although a person can be affected by loss for his or her entire life. For a person to live a happy and productive life, grieving must at some point become completed, and acceptance must set in. Any method of grief management that brings a grieving human being to closure should be considered effective.