Recent Stories
Dear Dr. Neimeyer, Ten years ago my beloved cat, Cloe passed away. She was sick cat and not supposed to live one year. She lived fifteen. Cloe was my constant companion. Whenever I was ill, she lay by my side. When pregnant and on bed rest for months, she was my best friend and confidant, […]
Dear Dr. Neimeyer, My teenage daughter Daniella died in a car accident almost two years ago, and even though I have been able to go on raising my other two children and working in my office job, I continue to feel a great deal of grief and also some irrational guilt about her death, because […]
Dear Dr. Neimeyer, My husband has been gone less than a year, and I can’t believe the stupid things people say to me, trying to make me “feel better.” “Time heals all wounds–you just need to stay busy,” “You’ve got to look on the bright side; at least you had him all these years,” and […]
Editor’s Note: we thought this repost would be especially helpful for those who struggle to get through Valentine’s Day Dear Dr. Neimeyer– My husband died just over a year ago, so now begins my second year without him, and I am not looking forward to it. It’s not that I am immobilized by grief, as […]
Here are some comments posted in response to a recent Ask Dr. Neimeyer post about the sudden death of a husband [some details were changed for anonymity}. I lost my husband this December. So it has been over a month. I cannot sleep or eat. I have to lay on the couch and cannot stand […]
Dear Dr. Neimeyer, Firstly, thank you for providing your expertise online. It has helped me since losing one of my twin sons in his late 20s in a motorcycle accident not long ago. This time has been filled with not only grief for the loss of my very close son, but also worry for his twin brother who witnessed […]
Editor’s note: we are in a crisis not only of pandemic, but also its consequence of overtaxing health care workers. This letter speaks to that issue. Dear Dr. Neimeyer, I work on an oncology unit in a large metropolitan hospital as a senior nurse, supervising several RNs and nursing assistants who care for many seriously […]
Dear Dr. Neimeyer, Why do I feel guilty when I laugh or have fun, knowing my daughter isn’t here, and I shouldn’t be having fun? Dolores Dear Dolores– There is an unwritten code in our culture–one that is an explicit prescription in many world cultures–that presumes that we honor the dead when we wear our […]
Dear Dr. Neimeyer I have read and appreciate your work about meaning reconstruction in loss. I have a friend whose grief is so complicated and consuming that she can’t find life for herself (her husband died from cancer about six years ago) and she can’t seem to move forward at all. Here is an excerpt […]
Editor: On November 13, 2015 the world was shocked by a series of terrorist attacks in Paris. We felt that Dr. Neimeyer’s words in response to that were relevant to what all Americans, in fact the entire world, is experiencing on the anniversary of the terrorist assault on our Capitol. Be safe. Be Healthy LB […]
