How To Overcome Grief When A Friend Passes Away

Post written by Suraj Shah.

Have you recently experienced the loss of a close friend?

Friends come and go in our life. Some of the best ones stick around for a very long time, particularly when life becomes difficult and they are around to help us see through the toughest of times.

However, when a person dies, society’s belief is that the immediate family constitute the rightful mourners, and only they are deserving of condolences and support. Unfortunately, this means that friends of the deceased are generally forgotten about.

When a close friend dies and you have been forgotten, what can you do about it?

1. Attend the public mourning service

By attending the mourning service, such as a funeral, wake or prayer meeting, you get a chance to pay your last respects, along with many of the other people that your friend knew.

2. Participate in the family’s mourning

You may also have the opportunity to visit the home where your friend lived and spend time with the family, supporting them at home with any chores, or being around to lend a compassionate ear. They may even ask you to take on a role to replace an absent family member (such as being one of the pallbearers at the funeral).

3. Organise your own memorial service with other friends

In case you didn’t find out about the death till it was too late and missed the funeral, hold your own memorial service to honour your friend’s passing. By involving other participants, you have a wonderful opportunity to find out more about your friend’s life and discover ways to support others who are grieving the loss.

Remember your friend, embrace their qualities

Even though not everyone will understand how important your friendship was, do take the time to reflect on magic moments  you shared together and your friend’s qualities that you can embrace and carry forward into your everyday life.

3 thoughts on “How To Overcome Grief When A Friend Passes Away”

  1. I was looking a some sort of a cure to overcome this kind of friendship, he was so close to me that it was hard for me to finally let him go, please I really need an advise on how to overcome this emotion i cannot truly understand

    1. Sorry to hear about the loss of your friend, Dennis. What have you already tried to help overcome this grief?

    2. Dennis grief counselling is amazing.
      I know people who have benefited from it when they lost a parent, sibling, friend, partner etc. What I’m trying to say is it doesn’t matter what the relationship to the person is, they help you overcome the grief and find ways to cope better.
      Is this a possibility for you? If so, you can google it or ask you GP. 🙂

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