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Essay about Anticipatory Grief

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Grief and its Effects Cipriana J Arias Liberty University Abstract Grief and its effects is considered in this paper with the purpose of better understanding how it affects a person. Grief is a natural reaction to loss and change which affects all aspects of a person’s life: the physical, emotional, psychological, behavioral, and spiritual. Grief is not expected but will be experienced in a variety of ways such as experienced, sudden, gradual or anticipated. While most people will experience loss at one time in their lives, not everyone responds in the same way or goes through the same process to recover and heal. Grief and its Effects Life does not come with a manual on how to cope with grief. Is it possible …show more content…

3). The gradual effects of grief may be manifested in various ways, such as higher levels of stress. Added stress then leads to a higher level of cortisol, which will compromise the immune system if it lingers for an extended amount of time (“Dealing with grief and bereavement”, n.d, para. 3). Untreated persistent stress can also lead to high blood pressure, cholesterol and abnormal heart rhythms (“Dealing with grief and bereavement”, n.d para 3). The Emotional effects of Grief Some of the emotions that may be experienced due to grief include shock, helplessness and numbness (Sandra, 2009). Sometimes the most obvious signs of grief are seen by the expressions and emotions a person demonstrates while they grieve. Trauma may be experience due to the death of a loved one in a violent or unexpected way (Pomeroy, 2011). Shock may occur as an initial responses to the death of a loved one since it is the body’s protection from the onset of grief (“LIFE:When a loved one dies: coping with grief”, n.d.). According to Kübler-Ross (as cited in Feldman, 2011), there are five steps taken toward death (Feldman, 2011, p. 609). These steps are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance (Feldman, 2011, p.615). Denial is a defense mechanism that gives the person time to adjust their thinking in-order to cope (Feldman, 2011, p. 610). Anger is a normal method of diverting pain and usually indicates an

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