How to Cope With the Loss of a Roommate
Dealing with any type of loss can be a painful process. In the case of a death of a roommate, you may be involved in a legal contract such as a lease, adding fiscal responsibilities to your grief. In addition to your own emotional health, you may be now left to deal with your budgetary concerns. While everyone deals with grief in their personal way, there are some actions that must be taken upon the loss of a roommate.
- Difficulty:
- Challenging
Instructions
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Contact the family of your roommate. If they are not already aware of the loss, they will, of course, need to know. If you were not very close to your roommate, it may be difficult to find contact information. In this case, you will want to get in contact with your landlord. If your roommate signed a lease, there will most likely be an emergency contact listed. If you are not comfortable disclosing this information, you can pass the responsibility of notifying the family to your landlord or property manager.
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Notify your landlord how you would like to proceed. It can be difficult to assess your budget at a time like this, but the fact remains that bills need to be paid. Chances are you decided to have a roommate to help with living expenses, and you may not be able to cover them alone now that your roommate has passed. If you notify your landlord or property manager, he may be able to work something out financially with you to ease you through this loss.
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Return the property to the roommate's family. Or, allow your roommate's family to come and retrieve any property he or she left behind. In some cases, the family will want the room to be untouched, so that they can be the only ones to handle the roommate's property. In this case, you should respect this wish. If this is not the case, you may want to box up your roommate's belongings as if he were moving out. This has the potential to be a cathartic process that may help you through the grieving process.
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Seek grief counseling. Dealing with the sadness of losing a loved one can be a long and difficult process, and the symptoms of grief can show up in unexpected ways. If you feel you cannot handle the loss of your roommate without outside help, do not be ashamed. There are trained professionals in most areas who will have plenty of information and support to help get you through this difficult time. According to HelpGuide.org, "The more significant the loss, the more intense the grief. However, even subtle losses can lead to grief."
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