Have you had to deal with grief lately? I hope not, but I know some people who are grieving right now and thought it might be important to talk about it. Although it’s not the lightest of subjects, it’s important to know what grief is and how handle it.
A well-known psychiatrist named Elizabeth Kubler-Ross defined five stages of grieving in her book “On Death and Dying”. Note that not everyone goes through these stages in a specific order, but all grieving individuals go through at least two of them.
1. Denial – “This can’t be happening to me!”
2. Anger – “This isn’t fair. Why me?”
3. Bargaining – “If this doesn’t happen, I promise I will ____.”
4. Depression – “I’m so upset. Why bother doing anything at all.”
5. Acceptance – “It’s going to be ok.”
Everyone grieves differently. There is no right or wrong way and there is no timetable. Grief is as individual as the person grieving. But there are ways to make it easier. The most important factor in dealing with grief is support.
Places to find support include family, friends, co-workers, church, support groups, therapists or other professionals. Experts do agree, however, that letting your emotions show is important. Bottling up emotions, hoping they will go away is not a good idea, as it could delay the grieving process.
The older we get, the more chances we will have to face grief - it’s a normal part of life. No matter how prepared we think we are to lose a loved one, we are never fully ready. But knowing how to deal with grief will help you through the process and make it less painful.
If you have any tips on grieving, please share them. It could help someone else when they need it most.