The Stages of Grief

You’ve seen plenty of TV shows and movies where the main character experiences some sort of tragedy. Maybe they watch stoically as their home planet is destroyed, or shout curses to the sky as they face the loss of a close friend.

In our real lives, the reasons we grieve may not be as dramatic. It may be something as mundane as being fired from a job, seeing a pet pass away or moving. The reasons behind the grief don’t change how we feel.

Based on the work of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, psychologists generally recognize 5 Stages of Grief. They are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Though they often show themselves more subtly, the stages will generally look something like this:

Denial: That can’t be happening to me.

Anger: It’s an outrage that this is happening to me!

Bargaining: If you happen to get me of out this, I swear I’ll change my ways.

Depression: There’s nothing I can do to stop this from happening to me.

Acceptance: It happened, but it’s time to move on with my life.

Understanding the way we grieve can help you start to come to terms with it, but it’s only the beginning. Don’t hesitate to confide in a friend, family member or someone else you trust and if necessary take advantage of the services of a trained grief counselor. Grief may be short or long, profound or quiet, but it’s something we don’t have to face alone. For more information, you can visit Grief.com.