Not all people require professional help to overcome grief, however, it is recommended that you seek it if you consider that you need it.

If you consistently experience some of the signs described below, you likely need help from a professional.

• Intense feelings of guilt caused by the inability to change situations in which the survivor feels they could act differently.
• Thoughts of death : intense feeling of wanting to die when the person who was stabbed did so.
• Intense hopelessness: feeling of loss of meaning in life and/or facing a bleak future.
• Difficulty controlling anger.
• Physical symptoms , such as significant weight loss or a feeling of not being able to breathe.
• Excessive concern with feelings of uselessness.
• Psychomotor slowing: a feeling of being "slowed down" maintained over time.
• Hallucinatory experiences: it is common to experience these types of experiences in a situation of mourning. For example, the so-called "pseudohallucinations of widowhood", which consist of hearing or seeing the deceased person and which are considered normal in healthy people.
• Difficulties in functioning in daily life that occur in a sustained manner over time (for example, difficulties in maintaining work activity, household chores, etc.).
• Substance abuse: consumption of alcohol or other drugs as a measure to lessen the pain of loss.
• Recurrent and distressing thoughts or images about situations experienced before or after the loss.