Bereavement - anyone been given meds to help cope?

[FluffyFluffy]

Hi Everyone -
Some background - Its 2 weeks since my Dad (we were very close) died & of course I know that grief is normal & takes time to go through.
In due course I'm open to 'talking therapies' and in the meantime am trying to help my self by eating healthily, doing exercise, cutting alcohol, trying to do positive things.

BUT - I am finding it really hard to cope with work.

My concentration is shot, I'm in a stupor, making mistakes, and it takes me 100 times longer to do anything - plus have waves of grief/crying (not seen thankfully by work), heart palpitations (sort of like if you got a fright) but for no reason, heavy chest and so on.

I can not ask for more time off work - as I had lot of time off for practical reasons in the lead up to the death. Nor can I 'explain to work how I am feeling/not coping'.

On top of everything else I do NOT want to be sacked for failing to do my job well & its the type of job where you need to pay attention to detail, plus I should really be making up for lost time.

Question is - IF - I went to my GP for meds is there any chance they would give me something - OR are they more likely to say go away and grieve for 6 months or 'talk to a counselor' .

( All very good suggestions in an ideal world but in the real world I need to keep my job.)

Has anyone been here with the meds route post bereavement & has it helped on a practical level at least with the concentration/brain fog/edge off to cope with work.

Thanks

Went to the GP - and the answer is sadly No.

Hope I can get things together next week at work.

Went to the GP - and the answer is sadly No.

Hope I can get things together next week at work.

I think you need to tell them at work how you are feeling. This will remove some of the pressure you're putting upon yourself to act 'normally'.
I felt like this for quite a while after my dad died, and work were great, giving me time to have a weep in private if I needed, and working reduced hours until I felt stronger. I didn't have meds, and actually didn't want it a second I didn't want to feel numb.
Things will improve, it's a cliche but it's also true.
Big hugs x

Hi op, I went to the gp after my dad died suddenly and was prescribed anti depressants and my FIL has just been given the same after my MIL died recently, i'm really surprised you couldn't get anything to help you cope.

I'm very sorry for your loss 

I'm really surprised that they wouldn't prescribe antidepressants just for a short period of time.
I've been on them for a long time so was already in them before my sister died. It's not that they take the pain away but I think they probably to help you to function a little more.
It sounds like you are doing all of the right things trying to take care of yourself. I've been using the Headspace app which I find very useful, they have a set of sessions dedicated to grief.

Please do come back here and talk, one thing I never realised until I lost my sister is how lonely grief can make you feel, love to you XX

Talking helps. When I lost my grandma one of the things that ultimately helped me cope was talking about my feelings. My deepest condolences for your loss. I politely asked to see a therapist or psychiatrist for a while as I was not coping well. See what your GP can do to help. Also it might also help if you talked to a therapist or counsellor in your area.

Thanks all I’m surprised too, sort of thinking I’ll look into getting something online. Know that’s off topic for this thread. But need to be able to get on with work next week.

Get a sickness line for a month and make sure it refers to mental health being poor- it is a protected characteristic and your employer just has to manage

Hi fluffy, re your saying you might try online. There's a website called push doctor which costs quite a bit to use, about £60 including consultation and prescription charges, but I reckon if you used that you'd get anti depressants. The only thing I would say is that they're not a quick fix and if you started taking them today you wouldn't be feeling better by next week. I expect what you need is something more like diazipam for an immediate calming effect

@fluffyfluffy
Just wondered how you were getting on?

Hi everyone
thanks for the replies
it gets better (now been 3 months)
but just to say meds wise am taking 1200mg st johns wort daily - it takes the edge off
thanks