“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These individuals possess an appreciation, sensitivity, and understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep, loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.” – Elizabeth Kubler-Ross.

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At some point in life, we will all experience the loss of someone we dearly love and care about. It can be through sudden death, illness, or even a breakdown of a relationship. Overwhelming feelings follow, and the unprecedented feeling of loss can sometimes trigger a return to the past. 

Understanding the grieving process and the stages a person has to go through allows room for self-compassion, which is critical when recovering from a multitude of issues. Knowledge is power.  

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Grief Recovery

 

Hope and Health  Through Creative Grieving .. website with a fantastic amount of information 

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Swiss psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, in her book On Death and Dying (1969), outlined the phases of grieving as follows:

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1. Denial – We try to dismiss the brutal reality. It’s just a natural defense mechanism that helps us ease the initial wave of emotional pain. Feelings of shock, numbness, and disbelief accompany it.

2. Anger – We try to blame something or someone for the situation. This can also include feeling guilty and blaming ourselves for the problem. Guilt is a compelling feeling that can lead to relapse

3. Bargaining – We think “what if” or “If I only” to postpone the inevitable or to try and regain what we’ve lost. Bargaining, unfortunately, keeps us away from the present and locks us down in the past.

4. Depression – We might worry about tangible and practical things, like how we will deal with reality, bills, family, and friends. And then there is the personal sadness and heartbreak we experience when losing someone we love and care for. It is the feeling of emptiness; a time of loss, grief, and pain.

5. Acceptance – Do not mistake this with agreement. This is the final phase of the grieving process, sometimes marked by a person acting withdrawn, yet also feeling very calm. This is not a period of happiness, far from it; this is the time when a person accepts reality and slowly adapts to a new life, starting to prepare to move on.

6. Grief can be one of the primary triggers of a relapse. What can you do to help yourself go through this painful process without jeopardizing your recovery?

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​If the feeling of loss is overwhelming, it can be helpful to speak with a counselor or seek medical assistance. We have to remember that, just like there are many roads to recovery, there are also many types of grief, and we all deal with it differently. One thing for sure, though, is that it’s essential that we allow ourselves to grieve, and we must have the chance to talk openly about our pain. 

 

Resources on Grief

 

The 5 Stages of Grief: Sobriety Edition

By Beth Leipholtz

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GRIEF LOSS RECOVERY – Hope and Health  Through Creative Grieving .. 

We offer a range of creative mourning techniques on our website, including talking, writing, creating art, music, or poetry, as well as memorializing, all of which are effective ways to express your grief and bereavement.

Explore our site to find the expressive techniques that feel “just right” for you.

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GriefNet.org is an Internet community of persons dealing with grief, death, and significant loss: 50 e-mail grief support groups and two websites.

 

Our integrated approach to online grief support offers assistance to individuals navigating various types of loss and grief.

 

Click this link: Adult Support Groups to join one of our adult email grief support groups.

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