It has been surmised in the Kubler-Ross model that grief is shown in a progression of five stages: denial (“Everything is fine...”), anger (“How could this have happened? Who is to blame?”), bargaining (I will give anything for him to come back for just one more day!”), depression (“It is horrible that this happened- why bother with anything at this point?”), and, finally, acceptance (“What's done is done. I need to move on.”).
As I have experienced, however, this doesn't seem to be the case.
In the recent case of a family member's sudden death, each person grieved differently- from holding everything deep inside to keeping as busy as possible. The emotions that each individual had were so diverse: hopelessness, distress, anger, disbelief, compliance...
Set stages of grief were not involved as each person's personality is so different.
My point is that it's just so unclear how one supports those who are mourning, because the process is so diverse. Whereas some people just need to be alone, there are many who need the comfort of people around them often.
Do we honor a person's memory by participating in activities that had once made him happy?
Do we take time to consider how life will be so incredibly different now that he's gone?
Do we just... move on?
So I pose this question to my wonderful readers: how do you handle grief and sadness? How do you wish you handled it? What are your thoughts on supporting, comforting, and encouraging those who you love as they grieve?
I so look forward to your comments- I guess putting it into words is how I grieve.