Purpose of Anticipatory Grief

• Sadness and tearfulness, often triggered by any outside input.
• Fear of death and the loss, along with the life changes that may accompany the loss.
• Feeling of loneliness, as the person feeling anticipatory grief is unable to express it.
• Anger, both in the person dying as well as the person who is about to lose a loved one.
• The need to talk and vent out emotions.
• Guilt and Anxiety, especially survivor guilt.
• Intense emotional, physical and spiritual connection with the loved one.
• Difficulty in sleeping.
• Fear and concern for the children.
• Acceptance of the inevitability of death.

Conventional grief, the kind of grief that occurs after the loss of a loved one, or even loss of one’s dreams, is commonly discussed and understood.

Anticipatory grief is a lesser-known dimension of grief, something which occurs before death (or any great loss).

• Though anticipatory grief is a normal emotional process, if there is any difficulty in coping, one can seek the help of mental health professionals.
• Expressing oneself and letting out one’s emotions is extremely important, and it is dangerous to bottle them up.
• If you feel like letting go, make sure you continue to love the loved one, before and after the death, keeping the memory alive.

Grief involves anger and loss of emotional control, often a state of confusion.

Anticipatory grief, for those who experience it, is sometimes even more severe and stressful. It does not lessen the burden of actual grief after the loss has been experienced, and is not a substitute for it..