The Compassionate Friends: Grief Support Group Following Death Of A Child
by Steven Lippmann, MD & Uzma Qayyum, MBBS
The death of a child is one of the most devastating experiences a parent can have. Loss of a loved one causes huge emotional upset for families. It is worse when it involves younger persons and especially when it is someone’ s child. The death is usually followed by tremendous sadness, often depression, insomnia, anger and feelings of loss and guilt. Feeling alone and isolated is very common. Hopelessness can induce suicidal thoughts, substance abuse and social dysfunction. The anguish can disrupt personal, family and / or occupational life.
When you encounter bereaved people with significant grief-induced concerns or dysfunction, we consider it good advice to recommend attendance to a support group. Attendance at grief support meetings can help attenuate the degree of suffering, promote some emotional comfort, show that the person is not alone and teach ways to cope with the loss. One excellent support group in Louisville is The Compassionate Friends. Our community also has other grief-focused resources, in religious, counseling, medical or funeral service organizations.
The Compassionate Friends is a peer self-help group that meets monthly, no appointment, notification or referral needed – just show up. Attendance is cost-free. Everyone in grief is welcomed following the death of a child of any age, even those as an adult. Other relatives or people in the family are also invited.
Each meeting is a mutual sharing session facilitated in leadership by other fellow group members, not professionally directed. Attendees generally gain stability from the communal, nurturing, open sharing of stories about the death circumstances and related personal issues. Everyone in these sessions learns from one another and personally understands the life-altering impact of grief.
There is lots of talk to honor and remember the departed child. This helps, over time, to gradually lighten the severe initial anguish of bereavement in a social connection. The group also fosters coping with the loss by moving on with life in the future. Emotional recovery is a big part of these sessions and with grace and the help of others, the families can begin to suffer less from the harsh reality of grief.
The meetings are 6:30-8 p. m., the first Thursday of each month. The Compassionate Friends meetings are at the St. Matthews’ City Hall on 3940 Grandview Avenue, room 116, Louisville, KY 40205. Meetings are located on the first floor, conveniently just to right of the front door. Note that the December meeting venue varies. The telephone contact is Linda at 502-889-1629.
Dr. Lippmann is a retired psychiatry professor from the University of Louisville School of Medicine. Subsequently, he regularly provides primary medical care practice at the Family Community Clinic, clinically mentors lots of students, residents and international medical graduate physicians and teaches scientific medical writing seminars.
Dr. Qayyum is a graduate of Allama Iqbal Medical College in Lahore, Pakistan and has been working as a psychiatrist in her home country. Currently, she is a Research Scholar in the Psychiatry Department at the University of Louisville.
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