6 Months or Less Diagnose for a Loved One.

Knowing how to offer comfort and support to a loved one who has a terminal illness can be challenging. What can you say or do? How can you help your loved one cope? How will you deal with your own grief? Get the facts about supporting a loved one who is terminally ill.My loved one has been diagnosed with a terminal illness. How might our relationship change?Your relationship with your loved one might not necessarily change because he or she has a terminal illness. If you're concerned, try to build on your relationship's strengths. It's also important to be open to new possibilities. A loved one's terminal diagnosis might improve your relationship. Or unresolved conflicts might present new challenges.Remember that your loved one is still the same person and will still have the same needs and desires as he or she had before the terminal illness. Many people facing terminal illness want to be treated as normally as possible, without always focusing on the illness.How can I help my loved one cope with a terminal illness?Let your loved one know that you're willing to listen to his or her concerns — and never underestimate the value of your presence. Even if it feels as if you're not doing anything, your presence sends an important message. Don't, however, try to be a counselor.Is there a typical emotional process that a person who has a terminal illness experience?Dying isn't a science. Don't assume that a loved one who has a terminal illness is going to go through a methodical process of coming to terms with death. It might not happen that way.Acceptance or accommodation might be the most desirable outcome of the grieving process — learning to live as fully as possible while accepting the presence of a terminal illness.But does your loved one have to accept that he or she has a terminal illness? Does your loved one have to accept that he or she is going to die before he or she expected? No. There's no right or wrong way to come to terms with death.How do you help a loved one who's in denial about his or her impending death?Denial is an important coping mechanism. Your loved one might be in denial because the reality is too frightening, too overwhelming, or too much of a threat to his or her sense of control. A denial is a form of natural protection that can allow your loved one to let reality in bit by bit and continue living as he or she contemplates death.As long as denial isn't causing your loved one significant harm — such as causing him or her to seek out painful treatments of no therapeutic value — then denial isn't necessarily bad.Your loved one might be afraid of pain. Perhaps your loved one is afraid of losing control of his or her bodily functions, mind or autonomy. Your loved one might also fear failing family or become a burden to others.To provide emotional and spiritual support to your loved one, invite him or her to talk about his or her fears. Sometimes, however, it's easier for a dying person to share what he or she fears and explore it with someone other than a family member, such as a Bereavement Professional as Dr. Nicholas Losito, Ph.D.

Health Risks among those in Bereavement

 The weeks and months after the death of a spouse or child may be a particularly risky time for their loved ones.

So say Dutch experts who reviewed studies on bereavement (defined as recently losing a significant person to death) in the U.S., Europe, Australia, and other countries.

Their review shows that death, illness, and emotional distress are more likely among the bereaved than among other people, especially in the first six months of bereavement.

The higher death rate among the bereaved is "attributable in large part to a so-called broken heart," write Utrecht University's Margaret Stroebe, Ph.D, and colleagues.

Suicide, alcohol-related deaths, and heart disease deaths are among the risks. Nonfatal illnesses also rise during bereavement, the review shows

Psychologically, bereavement is "a harrowing experience for most people, one that causes considerable upset and disruption of everyday life," Stroebe's team writes.

"For most people the experience, though difficult, is tolerable and abates with time," they write.

Each person's bereavement experience is unique. Moreover, while no one can replace the person who has died, support from friends and family makes a difference, note Stroebe, and her colleagues.

They observe that grief is normal, but complicated grief -- an unusually long and/or intense grieving period -- is rare but may call for professional counseling.

Dr. Nicholas Losito, Ph.D, CISM continues to assist at the time of disruption within the daily routines of life.