Dear Dr. Neimeyer– My husband died just over a year ago, so on January 1st I will start my second year without him, and I am not looking forward to it. It’s not that I am immobilized by grief, as I have gotten better across the months in that department, and actually feel pretty good
My husband passed away…
Dear Dr. Neimeyer, My husband passed away in five years ago. It was right before our oldest son graduated from high school and our youngest son was eight. My oldest son graduated with a degree in electrical engineering last year. My oldest son, I believe bottled up everything; he won’t even talk to me or his
Grieving and the Holidays
Dear Dr. Neimeyer, My husband Don died 9 months ago after a rapid decline; and his lungs basically stopped working, even with oxygen treatments. His death has been hard for us as a family in many ways, as he lived only about 6 months after getting the diagnosis, and we are now facing the first Christmas
Suicide of a Son and Complicated Grief x
Dear Dr. Neimeyer, I lost my son Charles a few months ago to suicide. Charles lost both his babies 4 years ago. Their first baby was a miscarriage and the second was born with a rare cancer and only survived two and a half months but lost his battle and passed on. This broke my son and the 4 years after
After sudden death of a husband; finding meaning in life
Dear Dr. Neimeyer, Six months ago my partner of 47 years died suddenly. We have no children and have always been very close and spent a lot of time together. This would have been our first real year of retirement together and we were looking forward to growing old together, just enjoying our free time and everyday things. Now he’s gone I can
Alzheimer’s Loss: fixating on the present
Dear Dr. Neimeyer, I am providing emotional support to the family of an advanced Alzheimer’s patient who has been institutionalized for 5 years. The patient was a brilliant scientist, greatly loved and admired by his sister and three daughters. As the scientist approaches death, his sister and daughters are troubled by the fact that their thoughts
“My son took his own life…” x
Dear Dr. Neimeyer, My 17 year old son took his own life not even a month ago. I find I can’t even type the details. He used a shotgun in our basement. Our whole family found him shortly afterwards. I recently read about “atypical depression” which very well described Edward’s condition. He was doing well.
Do I have PTSD?
Dear Dr. Neimeyer, I have a question please. I lost my sixteen year old son in an accident only fifteen months ago. I can hardly walk through this house of memories, so I stay isolated in one room. I do not want to be bothered. My mom lives here and has taken over for a
Coping with multiple losses
Dear Dr. Neimeyer, Why is it so hard? I lost my sister in the spring of 2013, then my husband a month later, then my son two months later 2013. It’s been a losing battle I just don’t know how to handle this. Paulette Dear Paulette, When a person has a litany of losses in
Guilt and a Mother’s Passing
Dear Dr. Neimeyer, I didn’t want to post this because I don’t want my loved ones to know the guilt I feel about my mother’s passing. But before my mom passed last year I avoided her calls as my sister said she was drinking a lot. We lived in different states. And she was drunk