The Grieving Process

The life transition of death and dying is inevitably one with which we will all be faced; we will all experience the death of people we hold close throughout our lifetime. This paper will explore the different processes of grief including the bereavement, mourning, and sorrow individuals go through after losing someone to death. Bereavement is a period of adaptation following a life changing loss. This period encompasses mourning, which includes behaviors and rituals following a death, and the wide range of emotions that go with it. Sorrow is the state of ongoing sadness not overcome in the grieving process; though not pathological, persistent

Loss is a phenomenon that is experienced by all. Death is experienced by family members as a unique and elevated form of loss which is modulated by potent stages of grief. Inevitably, everyone will lose someone with whom they had a personal relationship and emotional connection and thus experience an aftermath that can generally be described as grief. Although bereavement, which is defined as a state of sorrow over the death or departure of a loved one, is a universal experience it varies widely across gender, age, and circumstance (definitions.net, 2015). Indeed the formalities and phases associated with bereavement have been recounted and theorized in literature for years. These philosophies are quite diverse but

Grieving is a process the human mind goes through to stay healthy through a large loss. According to the American Psychology Association “Coping with the loss of a close friend or family member may be one of the hardest challenges that many of us face. When we lose a spouse, sibling or parent our grief can be particularly intense. Loss is understood as a natural part of life, but we can still be overcome by shock and confusion, leading to prolonged periods of sadness or depression. The sadness typically diminishes in intensity as time passes, but grieving is an important process in order to overcome these feelings and continue to embrace the time you had with your loved one.” The argument could even be made that grief is part of psychologist Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs (See Below), which is a pyramid shaped diagram used to explain the basic needs of humanity. In a brief explanation Simple Psychology puts is simply, “Maslow wanted to understand what motivates people. He believed that people possess a set of motivation systems unrelated to rewards or unconscious desires. Maslow (1943) stated that people are motivated to achieve certain needs. When one need is fulfilled a person seeks to fulfill the next one, and so on… This five stage model can be divided into basic (or deficiency) needs (e.g. physiological, safety,

Grief is the process of reacting to physical or emotional loss, including death or divorce.

Grief is a natural response to loss, usually associated with the loss of a loved one. Grief has an emotional response, but can also have physical, cognitive, behavioral, and social responses. Other examples of loss can be the loss of a spouse, family member, job, independence, pet, or physical loss of an object from theft. Grief is an important part of the healing process, and can be one of the most difficult times in a person's life. Human's grieve in a very unique way, but so do other species. Everyone grieves differently.

Whether it is over the death of a loved one or a very emotional situation, grief is inevitable. Most individuals experience a form of grief at some point in their lifetime. Coping with a distressing situation can be a very difficult task and there are many arguments as to whether there is a set and correct method on how to deal with grief or not. Many people have created a grieving process that includes going through certain stages in order. However, this proposed grieving method is no more than a false theory. Due to the fact that every single person grieves differently, there is no way to possibly set a specific way to grieve. “A Raisin in The Sun,” by Lorraine Hansberry and “Hamlet, Prince of Denmark,” by William Shakespeare both

A common struggle for many folks identify is trying to figure out how grieving is operationalized and whether they are doing it "right". "Doing it right" usually has two meanings for the person struggling with a loss. The first has to do with reaction - many folks spend a good deal of time trying to figure out whether how they are feeling in relation to the loss is normal. The second has to do with process - a desire for a blue print on how to go about grieving.

Men in out society are referred to as tough, emotionless, strong and dependable. Often a man that cries is perceived as soft and weak; therefore we may be led to believe that men do not have a problem. However, this statement is incorrect. Men who are “tough” and do not cry as a response to grief are actually the men we should be most worried about because they tend to bottle up their emotions. Masculine patterns of coping with grief are different but not less effective than the more conventional or feminine ways of dealing with a loss (Doka, K. J., & Martin, T. L., 2010). The use of the word masculine response to grief is not always the most proper term. Some women respond in the same way as men when responding to grief and men sometimes responds

Emotionally, however, we may resent the person for causing us pain or for leaving us. We feel guilty for being angry, and this makes us more angry.

Grief is the act following the loss of a loved one. While grief and bereavement are normal occurrences, the grief process is a social construct of how someone should behave. The acceptable ways that people grieve change because of this construct. For a time it was not acceptable to grieve; today, however, it is seen as a necessary way to move on from death (Scheid, 2011).The grief process has been described as a multistage event, with each stage lasting for a suggested amount of time to be considered “normal” and reach resolution. The beginning stage of grief is the immediate shock, disbelief, and denial lasting from hours to weeks (Wambach, 1985). The middle stage is the acute mourning phase that can include somatic and emotional turmoil. This stage includes acknowledging the event and processing it on various levels, both mentally and physically. The final stage is a period of

It crucial to point out that grief is a process made up of five stages; these are denial, anger (which is characterized by blame shifting), bargaining, depression, and acceptance. If an individual experiences these emotions, it means that reaction is natural and that one will heal eventually.

In the first stage that I will discuss is denial. In this stage people may deny the reality of the situation by blocking out the words and hiding from the facts ("5 Stages of Loss & Grief | Psych Central," n.d.-a). For instance, someone could be diagnosed with some form of cancer. That person may not want to know because it might overwhelm them. So they would not want to know the reality of

When someone’s going through a grieving process, they have a natural tendency to feel angry, frustrated, helpless

Illusion, one of the thing that keeps people from sometime accepting the truth. Most of the time, when a person’s illusion is shattered by the reality they go through five stage of grief. The stage of denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. This five stages are pretty common to people in wide range of experiences. For example, when I first realized I had lost my phone that is sister brought me I denied the fact it was lost. I would go to sleep and dream about me waking up and finding it right under my pillow, after several attempt of power nap and waking up I got angry and frustrated then started to argue that because of someone this had happen. Later I knew I had lost it and I knew I wasn’t going to get one as a gift until I

Denial and Isolation is when an individual begins to acknowledge the loss or death of a loved one and doesn’t want to admit that it’s actually happening. This is a normal reaction when individuals are experiencing overwhelming emotions. This is a temporary response that continues towards pain (www.ekrfoundation.org 2016).