Grieving through the holidays

How to help someone deal with loss at a time when everyone is in the mood to celebrate

For a large part of our country — and the Indian diaspora — this is the most festive time of the year, and the declining Covid-19 numbers indicate a possible victory in every sense. Having said that, might it be possible that we celebrate while keeping in mind the tremendous grief that so many thousands of families went through and continue to live with?

Several calendar months have passed since the first and second waves, but for those who are grieving, no amount of time qualifies as “enough”. As psychologists, we run a support group for grief, which is composed mostly of people who have lost someone to the pandemic, particularly in the second wave. Through these sessions, it became clear to us that while a large number of people might be ready to move ahead, many families are stuck in time.