Friday's Health Report: Mental health experts share ways to cope with grief, loss this Mother's Day
BATON ROUGE — Sunday is Mother's Day, a time to celebrate and appreciate all moms out there.
But for some who have lost a child, struggled to conceive or lost a mother, the day can be hard.
"It's really a challenge to have a day with a capital M and a capital D where a special attention is called to that relationship.," said Tamar Gur, a psychiatrist at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.
Gur said the holiday can be painful and isolating for some. But the first step in coping with it is being honest with yourself, she said, that it's ok to feel sad.
"With these feelings, the way you feel is true is true. No, you know, there's no second guessing that it's just the way that you feel and you, you are entitled to your feelings," Gur said.
It's then important to set boundaries and know that it is ok to say no to certain Mother's Day activities.
"But I can tell you there's no way to sneak around it. You have to go through it when it comes to grief or these complex feelings around motherhood," Gur said.
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It is always a good idea to seek support from a friend or family member. You don't have to feel sad alone, Gur said.
Unplugging from social media and doing something meaningful for yourself could also help make the difficult day go by easier, she said.
"Maybe if it was a certain hike you enjoyed, maybe if there was a certain restaurant you went to that had meaning for you really seeking out a way to commemorate where you are in this process or in this realm on Mothers Day can be really important for you to feel as ok as possible on what is a very difficult day," Gur said.