How to Use Transition Objects As a Way to Cope With Grief
There is no right or wrong way to grieve. Everyone experiences failure in their own way and at their own time. Grief is also very insidious: you may think you have dealt with it, only to find that a certain song, smell, or memory makes you sting of loss over and over again.
It turns out that some people have found that having a transitional object can help them grieve a deceased person while holding part of it to themselves. This is how it might look.
What are transitional objects?
Transitional objects most often arise in the context of children, especially those who may be dealing with separation anxiety. Here’s how the concept was described in a 2018 Lifehacker article :
If you find it difficult for your child to quit, you may find it useful to use a transitional object, such as a stuffed animal or favorite toy. In young children, this allows them to maintain a sense of comfort and consistency.
So what do transition objects look like for adults? Like the rest of the grieving process, it is very personal. According to Lisa Kanarek, while some people may find solace in photographs or videos depicting a deceased important person in their life, others are more responsive to a material object and find that having something that belonged to the person they lost. makes them feel closer, according to Lisa Kanarek. in the article for Well + Good .
How do transitional objects help people cope with loss?
Let’s start with the fact that some people are not comforted by transitional objects at all, and it is actually easier for them to avoid the deceased’s personal belongings altogether. But for others, they are an integral part of the grief and healing process.
“For many, this is an indication that people there, especially if the death was unexpected,” – said in an interview Well + Good Megan Devine, the LPC, a psychotherapist and author of the bestselling book ” All right, you’re not fine.” “Even when death was expected, sometimes it is so unreality, as if they were here, and now they are not.”