We experience grief in diverse ways.
Grief is a process, without a roadmap or time limit, and involves emotional, physical, social, and spiritual responses and experiences along the way.
Common grief feelings include shock, anger, guilt, anxiety, sadness, fear, and even numbness. Many people have“ grief bursts,” where reactions and emotions can quickly come and go— one moment you’ re laughing, and the next you’ re crying. Some cry frequently, at least in the first few days, weeks, and months following the death, while others never cry at all. Triggers can bring about intense waves of emotion and are part of the typical grieving process. Some face physical changes, such as difficulty sleeping, appetite changes, challenges with concentration, and even generally not feeling well.
Many share that the grief journey can feel lonely at times, and it is common to experience changes within friendships and other relationships after a death. Some find themselves questioning their faith or simply searching for meaning and making sense of what happened.
As you travel through grief, your experiences may change in different ways. Many people are familiar with Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’ s five stages of grief model: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance, though David Kessler writes about finding meaning as the sixth stage. There is no set order in which one might encounter the stages of grief. Your stages may be in a different order; you might skip some, and you could experience several simultaneously. J. William Worden identified tasks of bereavement: actualizing the loss, working through the pain of grief, adjusting to a new reality,
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