Is there anything I can take?

[needtobenumb]

I will be attending a funeral next week. I struggle with funerals at the best of times, but this one is going to be particularly hard. I am dreading this goodbye. Is there anything I can buy over the counter to numb me a little, and help me keep it together, just for those few hours?

Sorry to hear this

Rescue remedy might not be potent enough. But could be worth a go. My sister and daughter are both helped by it and it has good reviews on Amazon.

Hope it goes as well as it can and you are ok.

OP, a funeral is meant to be a focus for grief - a chance for the bereaved to release their bottled up feelings and cry together. It is cathartic and helpful to express one’s sadness. Keeping a stiff upper lip in order to reduce the ceremony to a formal “goodbye” rather negates its purpose. Crying together, while also celebrating the deceased’s life and achievements, brings people closer as they support each other in their loss.
Please don’t feel you have to drug yourself into numbness. I took nothing before my darling DH’s funeral when he was 36, as I wanted to be fully aware and able to experience my feelings in order to deal with them.

I respectfully disagree. A funeral is whatever the bereaved need it to be - for some, it is a cathartic experience and an opportunity to express grief with others. For some it is necessary as a mark of respect, but not helpful in itself and an ordeal to be endured. Not everybody feels comfortable or finds it healing to fall apart in front of others, not everybody is comfortable with everyone else who will be at a particular funeral - I certainly won't be sharing communal ourpourings of emotion with my estranged sister when my dad goes. I really think it is wrong to tell OP how she SHOULD be approaching the funeral. If she would prefer to be numbed a little and just get through the day as best she can, then that is entirely valid.

Diazepam, OP, if your GP will prescribe it for you. Mine will only prescribe one-off doses or very short courses, because it is so addictive, but for a funeral a small dose of it is ideal. It just blurs the edges a little and will help you get through it.