MENTAL HEALTH IN THE HEART OF MAUN

🌿 When a serious illness enters a couple’s life, grief begins long before physical death. Every relapse, every change in the voice or the gaze, every medical visit marks a slow process of farewell — one that wears down both the ill partner and the one who loves and cares for them. This process is known as anticipatory grief : a period when the heart starts preparing for the inevitable while the mind still resists believing it. You cry in advance, fear the end, give thanks for every extra day, and live suspended between hope and goodbye. Yet, although this anticipation may soften the shock of loss, it does not erase the pain. When the final moment arrives, the loss feels just as deep — because while the mind can anticipate death, the soul never learns to accept absence. 🌧 When Grief Begins Before the Farewell Anticipatory grief often appears when illness changes the rhythm and meaning of the relationship. The healthy partner becomes caregiver, protector, companion. Conversa...

🌿 In the silence of grief, when love blends with loss, a painful question often emerges: “Why him and not me?” Simple yet devastating, that question marks the beginning of a quiet struggle — the guilt of surviving. For those who have lost a spouse, living on can feel like a sentence. The mind fills with thoughts such as: “I should have been the one.” “If I had done something differently, maybe they’d still be here.” “Why am I still alive when life without them feels empty?” This guilt mixes with sadness, making the weight of grief even heavier. Yet guilt, though understandable, is not a punishment nor a real debt. It is a deeply human emotion that needs to be acknowledged, expressed, and eventually released. 🌧 Where Guilt Comes From Survivor’s guilt is born from love — from deep emotional attachment. When someone we love dies, we often feel that life has been unfair, that we somehow failed to prevent it. This illusion of control — the idea that we could have changed t...