Going through a divorce is one of the most stressful things you can experience. Even when you know in your heart that it’s the best decision for you, the strain of going through the process inevitably takes its toll on all parties involved. Many people find themselves overwhelmed and unprepared for the amount of stress it brings.
Between mediation, paperwork, court appearances, and the eventual cost of separation, the risk of burnout is very real. When you feel like you have hit your limit, you may just want to rush through for the sake of getting things done or, worse yet, throw in the towel altogether. But doing either can leave you in a much worse situation once all is said and done.
There is no easy way to prepare yourself for the stress of divorce, but there are healthy ways to deal with it. Today, we will discuss four of the best coping strategies to keep your head above water during this trying time.
1. Keep Living Your Life
A lot of work goes into the divorce process that can draw out negative emotions. Feelings of shame, anger, sadness, and anxiety are common during and following a divorce. If left unchecked, these emotions can cloud your judgement.
The more you let divorce disrupt your life, the harder it will become for you to recover from it. One of the most important things you can do for yourself is to maintain as much of your social life as possible. Co-workers, friends, and family are the foundation of your support network, so try to keep your regular routines with these people.
How you occupy yourself during this time is crucial to re-stabilizing your life. Once you fall out of your standard daily patterns, it can be challenging to get back into them. But if you try to stay connected to the things and people that have made up your daily life until now, you give yourself an increasingly better chance to stay well adjusted.
2. Ask For Help When You Need It
No matter what you do to support yourself during this time, it’s only natural that you will have moments of difficulty. Sometimes, people fall into the trap of thinking that they need to shoulder this burden alone to prove that they are okay. But this sort of thinking risks worsening the negative emotions you are already feeling.
When you find that your distress hinders your everyday life, you may need outside help to unpack and process your emotions. Divorce counselors, as well as therapists, are specially trained to help you healthily process your grief. Additionally, they can serve as someone to talk to when you are not comfortable expressing your thoughts to people close to you.
If you are not comfortable with the idea of speaking to a counselor or therapist, you may find a divorce support group just as valuable. They are generally community organized and managed, and most lack involvement from professionals. However, members of these groups actively help each other by sharing their advice and experiences.
3. Be Easy On Yourself
There’s no way to predict how divorce will affect you, and no matter how much you prepare, you’re likely to get blindsided by unexpected emotions at some point. It’s only natural, but how you react to these moments will help or hinder your progress. The key is to accept what you are feeling as natural.
We all experience the turbulence of divorce in different ways. You may experience it all at once and never again, but it is more likely that you will have painful moments throughout and after the divorce itself, despite long periods of feeling fine. Recognizing early on that struggle is not a sign of weakness, and that you are allowed to have conflicting feelings can keep you on track to progress and heal.
If you make peace with these feelings as you experience them, you will find that they become easier to live with and hopefully won’t linger as long. It’s when we ignore them that they become recurring problems. Part of this process requires you to forgive yourself when you hit emotional lows.
4. Talk to Your Lawyer
Tennessee divorce laws aim to minimize harm to either party and leave little room for doubt. However, that doesn’t mean they are always easy to understand or feel fair. If you fall victim to such a negative mindset, you risk losing sight of your needs and putting yourself in a worse position post-divorce.
Whenever the legal aspects of the divorce process cause you to stress, you should speak to your lawyer right away. Your divorce attorney will help you make sense of complex issues, such as division of property and alimony, and will do what they can to take the pressure off of you. Remember: you hired a lawyer because you needed their help throughout the process, not just to represent you in court. Your divorce attorney is here to guide you through the whole process and advocate for you.
Clients sometimes worry that calling on their lawyer when distressed is somehow harmful to their case or otherwise wastes time. However, these opportunities can be a fruitful way to express your needs and concerns that you otherwise might keep to yourself. Moreover, by helping you understand the process further, your lawyer can better prepare for future problems that may arise and coach you on what may be helpful (and unhelpful) ways to cope with your stress and move forward.
Get the Expert Legal Advice and Support You Deserve
Whether you are filing for divorce or have been served divorce papers, you may feel like your world has just come crashing down around you. It’s a very vulnerable and confusing place to be in, which is why you need the best legal counsel possible to navigate all the ins and outs of divorce law.
Attorney Hunter Fowler has provided legal services to many individuals in your precise situation and will work with you through every detail of your divorce proceedings to ensure the final outcome is what you want for yourself and your family.
Contact Murfreesboro Divorce Attorney Hunter Fowler today to get the legal counsel you deserve.