5 Stages of Grief
Loss in ones life is a difficult experience, but is part of life we cannot deny. Many of us don’t want to face loss and do what we can to avoid it or move beyond it.
However, grief is a natural response to loss, and understanding its stages can help us to navigate the emotional journey experienced when encountered by loss.
Experiencing loss can give us feelings of emptiness, hurt and pain. It is a very real, yet normal human experience.
Major life events such as death or loss of a loved one, divorce, moving, major illness or injury, job loss, acts of God, or war, can put us in a state of grief, having experienced a loss from these events, whether the loss is physical, emotional or spiritual.
Psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross developed a framework to help us understand the emotional process people go through after experiencing a significant loss. There are five stages of grief in which people experience.
These stages are not necessarily experienced in a linear fashion. Individuals may move back and forth between each stage during a process of loss. There is no set period of time for one to grieve a significant loss, as it is a personal experience for everyone. Here’s are the 5 stages of Grief:
1. Denial: Denial is the initial stage of grief. It involves difficulty, disassociation or avoidance in comprehending the reality of a loss.
Symptoms:
1) Believing there has been a mistake and your loved one isn’t actually gone.
2) Refusing to discuss the loss or acting like everything is okay.
3) Pretending your loved one is on vacation or will return soon.
2. Anger: Anger is a natural response and can be directed at various sources.
Manifestations:
1) Feeling angry with yourself or others.
2) Blaming someone else for the loss.
3) Being mad at God or medical professionals.
3. Bargaining: In this stage, individuals try to make deals with fate or a higher power to change the outcome of the loss.
Examples:
1) Making promises to change if the situation is reversed.
2) Seeking ways to undo the loss.
4. Depression: Depression is characterized by feelings of sadness, emptiness, and despair.
Signs:
1) Withdrawing from others.
2) Losing interest in activities.
3) Feeling overwhelmed by sadness.
5. Acceptance: Acceptance doesn’t mean being okay with the loss; it means coming to terms with it and beginning to move forward.
Indicators:
1) Recognizing that things wont return to how they were.
2) Finding a way to live with the loss.
These are only descriptions of the actual stages and don’t necessarily occur in a linear order. Each stage can be felt or revisited over and over again in ones life, depending on the severity of the loss.
The process of grief is also referred to as a detachment process, or the recovery process, in which detaching from circumstances, substances, addictions, people, places and events, involves the process of letting go, which is the same 5 stages of grieving.
The process of letting go of attachments utilizes the same 5 stages of grieving, as a necessary process of recovery from any such feeling of loss incurred by letting go.
Rest assured, you are not alone and there are many grief therapy and grief support groups available to you.
Remember, Prayer is also effective in helping to move you through the stages of Grief. Here are some prayers available during such times of loss.
Additional Resources:
Silent Unity Prayer Request: 1-800-669-7729
Or online at www.silentunity.org
Seek professional support and guidance if you’re struggling to recover from grief.
You can explore more information at Cleveland Clinic’s article on the 5 stages of grief
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