{"id":202,"date":"2015-03-24T21:04:00","date_gmt":"2015-03-24T21:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/?p=202"},"modified":"2015-07-26T16:46:56","modified_gmt":"2015-07-26T16:46:56","slug":"staying-focused-awash-in-grief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/?p=202","title":{"rendered":"Staying Focused Awash in Grief."},"content":{"rendered":"
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Over the last three months I have struggled with focus. Why? Grief. \u00a0In the last twelve weeks there have been eight deaths that have directly, or indirectly touched me. The last time I lost this many people, this close together, was in the middle of the AIDs epidemic.<\/p>\n

Grief is difficult for everyone. For individuals with ADHD, it it compounded by behavioral issues. I wrote about keeping it together when a family member faces a health crises\u00a0here.<\/a> \u00a0Some of the same issues complicate grief for individuals with ADD\/ADHD, impulse control, issues with substance abuse, the inability to be still, discomfort in your own skin, and an increased incidence of depression and suicide.<\/p>\n

My tips for handling grief can be summed up in a few sentences.<\/p>\n

1. Do not self-medicate. I am talking about the urge to binge watch\/spend money\/shop\/drink\/smoke\/eat chocolate\/ whatever your make-me-forget-not-feel drug of choice is, don’t do it. Feel your feelings no matter how uncomfortable they are.<\/p>\n

2. Pay attention. Being sad is normal. Not getting out of bed for days is not. Get help.<\/p>\n

3. Find someone to talk to about your feelings. A therapist, social worker, clergy, your best friend, your family.<\/p>\n

4. If you are a creative, create. Do the thing that feeds your soul.<\/p>\n

5. Give yourself time. So many times we think that we should be able to “just get over” whatever it is that is making us sad. A very wise woman once told me “some things you don’t get over, you just get through.”<\/p>\n

6. Find a peaceful view. Just sit with it. This is mine.<\/p>\n

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Please give yourself time to heal.<\/p>\n

If you are struggling with depression, please, please, get help, don’t make a decision in a moment that is permanent. This link is for the\u00a0National Suicide Prevention Organization<\/a>\u00a0their number 24\/7\/365 is 1-800-273-8255.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over the last three months I have struggled with focus. Why? Grief. \u00a0In the last twelve weeks there have been eight deaths that have directly, or indirectly touched me. The last time I lost this many people, this close together, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":314,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,7,11,8],"tags":[73,74,75,76,77],"class_list":["post-202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-addadhd","category-grief","category-self-care","category-stress-and-addadhd","tag-5-tips-for-staying-focused-when-grieving","tag-addadhd-and-grief","tag-focus-when-you-are-grieving","tag-grief-and-adhd","tag-increased-risk-of-suicide-and-adhd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=202"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":557,"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202\/revisions\/557"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}