Grief

Stages of Grief

References

Support Web Sites (September 11, 2001)

Evaluation Form

ASPECTS OF GRIEF

WHAT IS GRIEF?

Grief comprises the myriad psychological, physiologic, and behavioral responses which accompany the human awareness of an irrevocable loss, such as a pending or actual loss of a close friend or relative. It is an extraordinarily powerful emotion.

WHAT ARE THE STAGES OF GRIEF?

The Stages of Grief are:

1. Shock: denial and disbelief
2. Acute mourning: intense feeling states
   1. crying spells
   2. guilt
   3. shame
   4. depression
   5. anorexia
   6. insomnia
   7. irritability
   8. emptiness
   9. fatigue
3. Social withdrawal
   1. preoccupation with health
   2. inability to sustain usual work, family, and personal relationships
4. Identification with the deceased
   1. transient adoption of habits, mannerisms, and somatic symptoms of the deceased
5. Resolution: acceptance of loss
   1. awareness of having grieved
   2. return to well-being
   3. ability to recall the deceased without specific pain

Jacobson, J. & Jacobson, A. (2001). Psychiatric Secrets. Philadelphia, PA: Hanley & Belfus, Inc.

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