Various Predicted Stages of the Grieving Process

Mourning the loss of a loved one, whether that loss be sudden or anticipated, can take anywhere from weeks to years during a process that tends to be unpredictable. While there is no finite set of grieving stages, there are some recurring and often overlapping behavioral patterns. It is essential for a grieving person to get through these stages in order to cope with a loss and find a way to move forward.

Denial

• Denial is often the first cited stage of the grieving process, during which the person in mourning feels numb and isolated. During this stage, the person may have difficulty believing that they've just lost someone, and might console themselves by feeling that the loss isn't real. Since they're in denial, they may simply feel numb or in shock rather than allowing themselves to feel sadness, especially after a sudden and unexpected death. It's common during this time to avoid others and feel distracted.

Anger

• A period of anger is often among the first stages of the grieving process. After losing someone you love, you'll likely experience feelings of anger at various people or groups, or even at society for allowing such an event to take place. People sometimes feel angry with themselves for not preventing the loss in the first place, even if it would've been virtually impossible to do so. During this stage, people may take out their anger and frustration on those around them or channel their anger in other habitual ways.

Bargaining

• Following stages of denial and anger, those coping with a loss sometimes go through a bargaining stage in which they make theoretical deals with God or the world in order to somehow undo the devastating loss. People commonly search for someone or something to blame for a loved one's death during this stage and may even turn that blame inward. During the loss of a relationship with someone who's still alive, one might bargain with that person (promising that they'll change, for example) to get their loved one back.

Depression

• Perhaps the most common stage of the grieving process is sadness or depression over a loss. During this difficult phase, a person may feel hopeless when they come to terms with their inability to stop the loss of their loved one. The grieving individual tends to express intense sadness during this time in ways that are familiar to him, which may include crying, irritability, feeling anxious or completely withdrawing from others.

Acceptance

• When a person has gone through all the initial stages of mourning at least once, the last stage is acceptance. The grieving person finally accepts their new reality without the person or people they have lost and by then has usually found ways to cope and adjust. In no way does this mean the person no longer feels sad over the loss: the sadness is just no longer so overwhelming, and one can more or less move on with his life.