When you lose someone
For most people who have lost a close family member or friend, grief brings intense suffering. Many people experience that suffering as sadness and sorrow in every area of life.
There are physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual aspects to grieving. Most people become aware that nothing will ever be the same as it was before the death of their loved one.
Grief is highly individualized. This means that each person responds to grief differently according to:
- how the loved one was lost,
- the grieving person’s personality,
- social norms within the grieving person’s culture and family,
- other stressors in the grieving person’s life,
- and the grieving person’s history of coping with other losses.
Your grief experience can also differ depending on the type of loss
Losing a Spouse
Becoming widowed brings dramatic changes to your lifestyle. Losing a partner creates grief with many layers. After your spouse dies, you lose the companionship and daily routines of marriage.
Losing a Baby
Losing a Child
Losing a child to death is one of the most traumatic events you can experience. Because children are supposed to outlive their parents, nothing can adequately prepare a parent for this loss.
Losing a Teen
Losing a teenage child to death is extremely traumatic. Because teens are supposed to outlive their parents, nothing can adequately prepare a parent for this loss.
Losing a Parent (For Adult Children)
If you are an adult child and lose your parent, you can feel like you’ve lost part of your connection to your own history.
Losing a Loved One to Suicide
Suicide survivors experience unique grief. For most survivors of suicide, the grieving process includes intense feelings of anger, guilt, and shame.
Losing a Loved One to Homicide
Family and friends who survive losing a loved one to homicide first face traumatic crisis.
Books About Grief and Loss
You may find some of these books helpful. They should be available at your local library or bookstore.