Grief is a natural response to any significant loss that you have gone through. Grief can relate to a number of events including the death of loved ones, the break-up of a relationship, pregnancy loss, the death of a pet, or the loss of a job. The complexity of grief is quite diverse and often people are not aware that they may be grieving. In such circumstances these people’s behaviour may have been changed, which is now having a negative impact on their life. People grieving will be unwilling to interact in social situations and constantly thinking about their loss. The negative behaviour associated with grief can often become worse if it isn’t dealt with in a healthy way.
Stages of Grief
While there are a number of stages to grief, every person can have a different expression of that grief and will move through the stages at different rates. Some people may grieve for weeks and months, while others may describe their grief lasting for years. It is important to understand that if you are experiencing grief for a prolonged period of time, you may need to seek professional help in the form of grief counselling.
To better recognise the symptoms of grief, you will need to learn the basis of some of the feelings associated. Grief encompasses many feelings that are perfectly normal after experiencing a form of traumatic loss. These feelings might include: