What is Grief?

It’s a natural and healthy reaction to losing a loved one, and it is one of the hardest things a person will experience in their life. It’s a process the person must go through as part of the healing process.

Grief is an individual thing no other person can feel or understand what you are going through. It’s an emotional time that not even the person grieving can understand or articulate those emotions.

The 5 Stages of Grief

These stages were developed by Elizabeth Kuble Ross in her 1969 book “On grief and grieving: Finding the meaning of grief through the five stages of loss.” Many health care professionals use this information. They are tools intended to help in identifying where the person is in their pain. Not everyone goes through all five stages, and many times the person goes back and forth within them.

The Five Stages are:

1. Denial This did not happen; I know it’s a nightmare I will wake from it.
2. Anger Why did this happen? Many emotions searching for answers
3. Bargaining Making a secret deal with God trying to delay the inevitable “What if”…I did this
4. Depression, The feeling of loss, is becoming real, affecting other things in the person’s life.
5. Acceptance We accept our loved one is gone, and we must start working on living with the pain.

How to start the healing process

· Take it one day at a time

· Remember everyone grieves differently; don’t compare yourself with other family members

· Look to your faith for comfort

· Let yourself grieve, allow any feelings and thoughts to manifest itself

· Don’t isolate yourself

· Use a journal to write your thoughts and feelings

· Keep memories alive

· Recall good things you did together

· Seek support group or professional help