When we suffer loss it is natural for us to grieve. The most difficult loss is the loss of a spouse, but losing a hope or an expectation is also stressful. To complicate things there are also more feelings such as guilt, shame, fear, and anger. These feelings are confusing and make recovery from loss more lengthy and difficult.Elizabeth Kubler-Ross has written extensively about her experience working with terminally ill patients and with survivors of Nazi concentration camps in her book, “on Death and Dying.” She writes five psychological stages of grieving. It is her feeling that any kind of loss from the death of a loved one, the loss of a special relationship, failing an exam, or losing ones wallet triggers the same type of responses that all people go through.These Stages are:1.Denial: At this stage of the process we are unwilling to accept the truth of the situation. This is also a stage of shock and we may feel like we are in a dream and will soon awaken to find the problem isn’t there.2.Anger: It is common for persons experiencing loss to feel angry and feel the need to blame themselves or others for their situation. It is not uncommon to feel that God is punishing you.3.Bargaining: This phase is brief but important. We tell ourselves if this problem goes away we will be a better person and will try to make up for mistakes in the past.4.Depression: We feel depressed as we anticipate various kinds of changes in our living situations or even the loss of our own lives if we are suffering from a serious illness.5.Acceptance: After moving through the previous steps we can finally accept what cannot change. We may no like the experience but we can accept it and move on with our lives.Moving through these five stages, or most of them is necessary to complete the grieving process successfully. Sadly, some people never reach the final stage. And sometimes it is necessary to go back and repeat some of the stages before...
