The Stages of Grief
When a death occurs to someone you know or love, you may experience different stages of greif. These are never easy to go through and each individual can go through these stages at a different pace. It helps to understand and recognize the grief process.
1. Denial Death becomes an overwhelming fact. Family members find themselves in shock, and will often be unable to cope with decision making.
2. Anger Anger may be directed at a specific incident or individual, or simply an overall "angry" demeanor. Often the emotion of anger is accompanied by feelings of guilt. If a family member is in the anger stage, they may lash out. Understand that these feelings are about death and loss, not about you personally.
3. Bargaining In this stage, survivors try to "strike a deal" with a higher power to bring back their loved one if they act in a particular way, or if they accomplish a particular task. It's important to be a good listener. Be supportive and sympathetic, but also be careful to avoid telling family members that you know how they feel. Each person's grief is unique, so allow them to have their own feelings.
4. Depression Depression is often the longest stage of the grieving process. A feeling of hopelessness and an inability to cope with living often prevails. Be gentle, compassionate and patient.
5. Acceptance The final stage of grief is acceptance. At this stage, family members are able to acknowledge the death and recognize that they have entered a new stage of their lives. Even if family members are displaying signs of acceptance, you still need to be encouraging and supportive. Even in the stage of acceptance, family members may show signs of the other stages of grief.
