The Grieving Process

Posted on

Jun 21, 2016

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Everyone grieves differently.
Grieving is a very personal and highly individual experience. How you grieve depends on many factors, including your personality and coping style, your life experience, your faith and the nature of the loss. The grieving process takes time. Healing happens gradually; it cant be forced or hurried. There is no normal timetable for grieving. Some people start to feel better in weeks or months while others it takes years. Whatever your grief experience, its important to be patient with yourself and allow the process to naturally unfold.

The following misconceptions and beliefs are prevalent in our culture and reflect a misunderstanding of the grief process. Absolute statements mistakenly attempt to provide information for how grief is experienced and result in hindering rather than helping people through their grief.

Time takes care of everything
The pain will go away faster if you ignore it
Its important to be strong in the face of loss
If you dont cry, it means you arent sorry about the loss
Grief lasts six months to a year
Grief always brings family together
You can grieve too much

The five grief responses are:

Denial: This cant be happening to me.
Anger: Why is this happening to me? Who is to blame?
Bargaining: Make this not happen and in return I will
Depression: Im too sad to do anything.
Acceptance: Im at peace with what happened.

If you are experiencing any of these emotions following a loss, know that your reaction is natural and keep in mind that not everyone who grieves goes through all of these stages. These are not stops on some linear timeline. Some people resolve their grief without going through any of these stages. Contrary to popular belief you do not have to go through every stage to heal. Dont worry about what you should be feeling or which stage youre supposed to be in at any particular time.

The grieving process is as individual as our lives. Whatever your grief experience, its important to be patient with yourself and allow the process to unfold naturally.

Editors Note: This article based on content from the CNS bereavement program and was submitted by Kimberly Dansie, HFA, MBA. She serves as Vice President of Business Development with Community Nursing Services (CNS) & may be reached at (801) 639-5433 or by e-mail at kimberly.dansie@cnscares.org

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