Grief is an emotion felt in every person one or more times in their lives. Grief occurs due to the loss of someone or something. It can be caused by losing a job, a pet, a friend, a family member, and even a possession. There are five stages in the grief process. The five stages are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and finally acceptance. The grief process is not complete until the person feeling it goes through all five stages. Each person is different and will go through the fives stages of grief in different time lengths. Some will go through it quickly and for some it may take a while to complete all five stages.
The first stage of the grief process is denial. According to www.dictionary.com , denial is defined as: and unconscious defense mechanism used to reduce anxiety by denying thoughts, feelings, or facts that are consciously intolerable. Denial occurs usually right when the loss occurs or is mentioned. Even though you know the loss has occurred, during the denial stage you will believe it is not real, or has not really happened.
The second stage of grief is the anger stage. According to www.definition.com anger is defined as: a strong feeling of displeasure and belligerence aroused by a wrong. This stage of grief occurs when the person who is grieving gets mad or angry at the person causing the loss. The grieving person may also get angry at his or herself or at the world. This is the stage where they are angry that the loss has happened and may begin to place blame in order to try to ease their pain.
The next stage of grief is called bargaining. This is when the person may start to try to make deals to end the loss or make it go away, or bring back what they have lost. For example he or she may try asking God to fix the loss if he or she does something in return.
The fourth stage in the grief process is the depression stage. According to www.dictionary.com, depression is defined as: a condition of general emotional dejection and withdrawal: sadness greater and more prolonged than that warranted by any objective reason. This is the stage when the person becomes sad and upset most of the time. They may cry a lot more and may try to shut themselves out from the world around them.
The final stage of grief is acceptance. This stage is the stage in which the person becomes fully aware of their loss. They begin to become less emotional over the loss. They now come to terms with the loss and are now able to cope with it better.
The grief process can be very stressful for a person. It causes many mixed emotions and can be difficult to handle. A person should not grieve alone, but should also not be pushed through the grieving process. The grief process can take longer for some than others and should be allowed to take its course naturally. Grieving does not end unless the process has run through all five stages completely.
