Bereavment – have you lost some significant in your life?

Bereavement is the state of loss when someone close to you has died. The death of someone you love is one of the greatest sorrows that can occur. Feelings of bereavement can also accompany other losses, such as the decline of your health or the health of someone you care about, or the end of an important relationship. Grief is a normal, healthy response to loss.

Everyone feels grief in his or her own way, but there are certain stages to the process of mourning. It starts with recognizing a loss and continues until that loss is eventually accepted. People’s responses to grief will vary depending upon the circumstances of the death.

A wide and confusing range of emotions may be experienced after a loss. There can be five stages of grief. These reactions might not occur in a specific order, and can (at times) occur together. Not everyone experiences all of these emotions:
– Denial, disbelief, numbness
– Anger, blame
– Bargaining (for instance, “If I am cured of this cancer, I will never smoke again”)
– Depressed mood, sadness, and crying
– Acceptance, coming to terms

Losing someone is extremely difficult so, please, remember – you don’t need to go through this on your own. Be kind to yourself and be open to receive support, warmth, care from others in regards to recover.