Understanding the Stages of Grief

When a loved one passes away, it leaves the family members and close friends in grief. It becomes very difficult to get the thought of that person out of the mind and the recovery process is never easy. While grief manifests itself differently in different people, there are five stages of grief that are considered to be the standard:

Stage1- Denial

When any tragedy occurs, every person goes through a phase of denial. Even those who know that their loved one was nearing death find it difficult to actually accept the fact that the person is no more. While denial can be quite overpowering, the stage doesn’t last for a very long time.

Stage 2- Anger

This is the first step to accepting that the person is really no more. A person who is grieving generally feels a wave of anger which stems from frustration and their inability to do anything to change the fact that their loved one has passed away. They feel that the world shouldn’t function in a normal way and that everyone should mourn with them.

Stage 3 - Bargaining

In this stage, the person who is grieving starts second guessing everything and keeps asking themselves what they could have done to prevent the death from occurring. This is actually the transition phase after which people are able to move away from the initial pain they are feeling.

Stage 4 - Depression

This stage can sometimes last for a very long time. The person has accepted his or her loss and feels the absence of their loved one very keenly. There is nothing else to distract them from their pain and they are unable to get over it.

Stage 5 – Acceptance

In this stage, the grieving person reaches a point where they don’t feel that they are being overpowered by their loss and they are more willing to move forward with their memories rather than just grief.

If you want to know more about coping with grief, or other services we offer feel free to reach out to us through our contact form or by calling 800-390-1941. We at Ocean County Cremation Service are happy to help.