We experience new things, meet new people, and work at different jobs throughout our lives. In a same vein, we may lose loved ones, quit our jobs, and break off some friendships. While some of these splits have little impact on us, others may be life-changing events.
It is natural for us to grieve following significant losses that have a profound impact on us. It goes without saying that in order to move past and recover from our separation and loss, we must go through the grieving process.
What then does the grieving process include for us? How can we go through the grieving process and how long does it last? Together, let's examine more closely at this aspect of our lives: the grieving process!
The normal painful process we go through after losing something significant to us is called mourning. A loved one passing away, a relationship ending, or losing one's career are examples of this loss.
Stated differently, grief encompasses more than just the loss of a person; it can also involve the loss of a thing, circumstance, or status. Similar to how everyone goes through the grieving process, it is a universal process.
In the same way that grief and other losses are unavoidable in life, so is death. No matter how we go through it, grieving is a necessary part of the healing process and helps us adjust to life after loss.
What distinguishes grief from sadness, then? How do we tell the difference between grief and sadness? While sadness is characterised by unhappiness and a depressed mood, grieving is a multifaceted process that involves other emotions.
The two can occasionally be confused because melancholy is a part of the grieving process. But, compared to the sadness we experience on a daily basis, the grief that is experienced during the mourning process is typically far more intense and prolonged.
In fact, because it keeps us from appreciating other things, this sadness can have a big impact on our everyday life.
In addition, grieving entails feelings other than sadness. We may feel regret, longing, rage, uncertainty, or emptiness when we are mourning.
We discussed how everyone's grief process is unique and involves a range of emotions. But does this process follow a straight line with no deviations from start to finish? Together, let's examine the five phases of grieving:
Our significant loss may be too much for us to handle all at once. It can seem as though our entire world has flipped upside down when we wake up and find that we no longer have our job, home, or relationship from yesterday, or that a relative we saw a few days ago is not here.
We therefore need time to process the emotional suffering brought on by this drastic shift in our life and come to terms with the fact that things are changing.
The initial phase of grief, known as denial, appears as a protective mechanism that satisfies this need. In fact, denying our loss gives us more time to adjust to our new situation.