Making sense of life after loss

THE STAGES: SHOCK, DENIAL, BARGAINING, GUILT, ANGER, DEPRESSION, ACCEPTANCE OR HOPE

- Yvonne De Bruin

Whether it's the loss of a relationship through a breakup or the loss of a loved one through a tragedy or death, the grieving experience is probably very much the same. Everyone has their own way of dealing with the loss of someone special and each of us experiences it in a different way. Some people tend to go into hibernation and don't want to see anyone, whereas others need close friends and family around them.

There are those who will deny their feelings and then express their emotions a few months or years later, and then there are those who will demonstrate their feelings of grief immediately and work through the experience so that they can eventually make some sense of it.