Mental Health Concerns

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Written by
Aarohi Parakh,
Psychologist and Content Writer

Reviewed by
Sanjana Sivaram,
Psychologist and Clinical Content Head

When Meera lost her mother, the house did not just become quieter. It became unfamiliar.
The morning tea was still made at the same time. The television still played in the background. Relatives visited, offered condolences, and gradually returned to their own routines. Within a few weeks, even Meera’s workplace expected her to resume normal functioning.
But nothing about her inner world felt normal.
She would forget why she opened her laptop. She would pause mid-conversation because something reminded her of her mother. Some days she felt intense sadness. Other days, she felt strangely numb. For a few days, she even felt moments of calm, followed by guilt for not feeling sad enough.
This is what grief often looks like. It is not always dramatic or visible. It is quiet, layered, and deeply personal.
In India, grief is both supported and silenced. Supported through rituals, family presence, and community gatherings. Silenced through expectations to be strong, move on quickly, and not “burden others”.
This blog explores grief and loss in depth, not just as a psychological concept but as a lived experience within Indian families, workplaces, and cultural systems.

Understanding the meaning of grief and loss begins with recognising that grief is the natural emotional response to losing something or someone significant. While most people associate grief with death, in psychology, grief extends to any meaningful loss, including the end of a relationship, loss of a job, changes in health or chronic illness, identity crisis, or major life transitions. Simply put, wherever there is attachment, there is the potential for grief.
In loss and grief in psychology, grief is studied within the field of bereavement research. The work of theorists such as Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, J. William Worden, and Margaret Stroebe along with Henk Schut has helped shape how we understand grief today. Modern perspectives view grief not as a problem to be solved but as an adaptive process through which individuals gradually adjust to a changed reality.
In the Indian context, grief is often associated with bereavement, yet several other forms of loss are equally impactful and frequently overlooked. These losses are often harder to process because they lack social recognition.
India’s cultural diversity plays a significant role in shaping how grief is experienced and expressed. Mourning practices differ across Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, and tribal communities, each offering distinct rituals and structures that help individuals process loss. At the same time, these cultural frameworks may also influence how openly grief is expressed and how long it is considered acceptable to grieve.

The stages of grief and loss provide a helpful framework to understand how people respond to loss, though they do not capture every individual experience. The stages were first described by Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross in her book On Death and Dying. The model includes five core emotional responses, often remembered as DABDA.

💡Important to Note: The stages of grief and loss are not linear. People may:
Disclaimer: This framework was originally created for people facing terminal illness and not grief, and that it’s not a fixed or universal process. Grief is not a checklist or a process to be completed. It is an ongoing adjustment.
Psychologist J. William Worden provided a more practical framework of four tasks that help us understand how people navigate through grief. The sequence of tasks is not in any specific order, and individuals can go back and forth over time.
This model is often useful in therapy and workplace contexts where individuals look for actionable ways to cope.
Most people going through grief experience sadness, numbness, guilt, and anger. Over time, the intensity of these feelings usually lessens, allowing them to accept the loss and move forward.
However, in some cases, grief can become prolonged and overwhelming. If intense grief continues to significantly affect daily functioning and does not improve beyond 12 months in adults or 6 months in the case of children, it may indicate complicated grief or prolonged grief disorder and require professional support.

Note for Academic Use: This structured explanation of the stages of grief and loss can serve as a clear reference framework for presentations or teaching material.
💡Key Insight: Grief does not follow fixed stages. It moves, shifts, and revisits. Understanding this reduces the pressure to “grieve correctly.”
The signs and symptoms of grief and loss can show up in many ways. Grief is not just an emotional experience. It also affects the body, thoughts, and behaviour. Understanding these patterns can help normalise what often feels confusing or overwhelming.
Grief often brings a mix of emotions, sometimes all at once:
These emotions may come in waves, triggered by memories, places, or dates.
Grief is also felt in the body, as a somatic experience.
This is because the stress response activated during grief impacts physical health as well.
Grief can affect how you think and process information:
It is important to note that these experiences are common and do not mean something is wrong.
Grief may also change daily behaviour:
Cultural expectations shape how grief is expressed:
These expectations can sometimes prevent healthy emotional processing.
Grief and depression may both involve deep sadness, but they differ significantly in their nature and treatment. Understanding these differences is important for seeking the right help and support.
It should be noted that both grief and depression can co-exist. Prolonged periods of grief can trigger a depressive episode.


Grief does not stay at home. It shows up at work, often in ways that are misunderstood or overlooked.
Case example:
After losing his wife, Amit returned to work within a week. He was attending meetings and responding to emails, but his focus had dropped. He began missing deadlines, avoiding conversations, and taking frequent sick leave. Over time, his performance declined, and he began considering resignation, not due to a lack of ability but to a lack of support.
How grief impacts work outcomes
Grief directly affects key workplace metrics:
Research highlights the scale of this impact:
The gap in Indian workplaces
This often leaves employees managing grief alone while trying to perform.
What actually helps
Role of EAP counselling
Structured support can significantly reduce this gap.
Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) services, such as 1to1help provide:
Grief is a natural process, but sometimes it can become overwhelming or difficult to manage alone. Seeking support means you are recognising that you need additional help during a difficult time.
Consider reaching out for professional support if you notice:
It is also important to seek help if grief is affecting your ability to function at work, such as difficulty concentrating, frequent absenteeism, or feeling emotionally overwhelmed during routine tasks.
If you or someone you know is struggling with grief and loss, help is available:
💡Key Insight: You do not have to wait for grief to become overwhelming to seek help. Early support can make the process of coping more manageable and less isolating.
Coping with grief and loss is not about “moving on” or forgetting. It is about learning how to live with the loss while slowly rebuilding a sense of stability. There is no single right way to cope, but certain approaches can make this process more manageable.
One of the most important steps in coping with grief and loss is giving yourself permission to feel. In many Indian families, there is pressure to “be strong” or return to normal quickly. Suppressing emotions may seem helpful in the short term, but it often delays healing.
Grief needs to be acknowledged, not avoided.
Talking to people you trust can reduce the sense of isolation that often comes with grief. This could include friends, family members, or even colleagues.
In the Indian context, communal mourning practices such as antim sanskar, teeja, and chautha play an important psychological role. They provide:
Even after these rituals end, staying connected to supportive people remains important.
Grief can disrupt daily life, making even simple tasks feel difficult. Maintaining a basic routine can help create stability.
Focus on small, manageable actions:
You do not need to feel motivated. Consistency matters more than intensity.
Staying connected to what or who you have lost can be comforting. This is known as continuing bonds and is a healthy part of grief.
You might try:
These rituals help integrate the loss into your life.
Physical movement can support emotional recovery. Gentle activities such as walking or yoga can:
Even short, regular movement can make a difference.
If grief feels overwhelming or persists over time, professional support can help you process emotions safely and at your own pace. Reaching out to Tele MANAS helpline 14416 or accessing EAP counselling services can be a starting point.
Support groups are becoming more common in Indian cities and can be particularly helpful for shared experiences such as:
Being with others who understand your experience can reduce feelings of isolation.
To find a list of support groups in India to help you navigate grief, click here.
Grief often comes in waves, sometimes without warning. This can happen at work, in public, or during routine moments.
In those moments, you can try:
The goal is not to stop the feeling, but to help yourself move through it safely.
Grief can be triggered by emails, conversations, dates, or even routine tasks.
Helpful strategies include:
Grief affects concentration and energy. Adjusting expectations during this time is not a weakness, it is a realistic response.
💡Key Insight: Coping with grief and loss is not about doing everything perfectly. It is about taking small, consistent steps while allowing yourself the space to heal.
Disclaimer: While self-help strategies can support grief, therapy offers more structured support when things feel overwhelming

Searching for grief and loss therapy or counselling in India often comes from a place of feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or unsure how to cope. While grief is a natural process, therapy can provide structured support when emotions feel difficult to manage alone.
Most grief and loss counselling in India is offered through outpatient therapy, either in-person or online. Unlike what some people expect when searching for grief and loss rehabs or treatment centres, residential programmes specifically for grief are rare in India.
Instead, support typically includes:
This format allows individuals to continue their daily routines while receiving professional support.
Different therapeutic approaches are used depending on individual needs, the nature of the loss, and how grief is affecting daily functioning. In the Indian context, these approaches are often adapted to align with cultural beliefs, family systems, and lived realities.
These approaches do not remove grief, but they help individuals process it, reduce distress, and gradually adapt to life after loss.

Grief is deeply personal, yet universally understood. In Indian philosophical thought, grief is often seen as part of life’s impermanence, reminding us of both attachment and meaning. These reflections often resonate:
Grief in India is deeply shaped by cultural, religious, and social practices. These mourning traditions influence how people experience loss and the kind of support they receive.
Across Indian communities, mourning rituals provide structure during a time of emotional chaos.
Not all grief is openly acknowledged in India.
Some forms of loss are often minimised or silenced:
This is known as disenfranchised grief, where the loss is not socially validated. When grief is not acknowledged, it can become harder to process.
India’s shift from joint families to nuclear households has changed how grief is experienced.
As a result, many individuals in urban India navigate grief with limited support.
💡Key Insight: Cultural rituals can support healing, but when grief is unrecognised or unsupported, it often becomes more complex and harder to cope with.
Meera, from our opening, chose to seek support over time. In therapy, she engaged in meaning-making work, reflecting on her relationship with her mother and finding small ways to stay connected, such as cooking her mother's recipes and writing down memories. Her grief did not disappear, but it became something she could carry with more ease.
This is often what healing looks like. Not moving on, but learning to live with the loss.
If you are grieving, your experience may look different, and that is okay. There is no right way or timeline.
If it feels overwhelming, you can reach out to Tele MANAS (14416) for immediate support, or access EAP counselling services such as 1to1help for a confidential space to process your experience.
You do not have to go through this alone.
Grief is the natural emotional, physical, and psychological response to loss of any kind. Loss and grief are deeply intertwined; every significant loss (death, divorce, job, health, or major life change) can trigger a grief response. In psychology, grief is understood as an adaptive process of adjusting to life after loss, not a problem to be fixed. Grief is universal but expressed differently across cultures. In India, mourning practices vary widely across Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, and Christian communities, all of which provide important social structures for processing loss. There is no "right" way to grieve, and no fixed timeline for recovery.
The most well-known grief framework is Elisabeth Kubler-Ross's 5 stages: Denial (difficulty accepting the loss), Anger (at the person, at oneself, at God, at life), Bargaining (what-if and if-only thoughts), Depression (deep sadness and withdrawal), and Acceptance (finding a way to live with the loss). However, these stages are not linear; people may experience them in any order, skip stages, or return to earlier stages. An alternative model, Worden's Tasks of Mourning, suggests four tasks: accepting the reality of loss, processing the pain, adjusting to a new reality, and finding a way to maintain a connection with what was lost.
There is no fixed timeline for grief. Most people experience the most intense grief in the first 3–6 months after a significant loss, with gradual easing over the following year. Grief naturally resurfaces around anniversaries, birthdays, and holidays. Prolonged Grief Disorder (complicated grief) is diagnosed when intense grief significantly impairs functioning beyond 12 months. In India, cultural expectations often pressure people to "move on" faster than is emotionally healthy. It is important to resist this pressure and allow yourself adequate time to grieve. If grief is severely impacting your daily life functioning after 6 months or more, professional support is recommended.
Consider seeking grief counselling or therapy when: grief has significantly impaired your work, relationships, or self-care for more than 6 months; you are using alcohol or substances to cope with grief; you are having thoughts of self-harm or suicide; you feel completely unable to accept the loss; or you are experiencing prolonged depression, extreme anxiety, or dissociation. In India, grief therapy is available through Tele MANAS at 14416, EAP counselling services (if you are working in an organisation that has EAP services), and private therapists.
Yes, anger is one of the most common and least talked-about emotions in grief. You may feel angry at the person who died for leaving you, at doctors who could not save them, at God or the universe, at yourself for things left unsaid, or at others who seem untouched by the loss. In India, expressing anger during bereavement is often socially discouraged, particularly for women and for the primary mourner. But suppressed grief and anger can emerge as depression, irritability, or physical symptoms. Anger in grief is normal, valid, and an important part of the grieving process. A grief counsellor can help you express and process it safely.