The Five Traditional Stages of Grief

Let’s begin with the fact that, just like we can thank Dr. Gary Chapman for his concept known as the five love languages back in 1992, back in 1969, it was a Swiss American psychiatrist by the name of Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross who created what we now call the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. As I was reading a piece that shared excerpts of how Dr. Kübler-Ross explains each stage of the grieving process (which we will touch on in a sec), it reminded me that there is also something that is called the Kübler-Ross Change Curve. Basically, it’s some added phases of grief — and there are two that I think will be really beneficial for today’s exercise: testing (experimenting with new situations) and decision (the optimism that comes from trying something new).

Okay, so even though grief is oftentimes immediately associated with the death of someone only, articles that I’ve written for the platform, like “How To Heal From A Broken Friendship,” are again reminders that ANY TYPE OF LOSS that impacts your life will probably require some type of grieving. That’s the sad part. The amazing thing about allowing that reality to settle into your spirit is being willing to intentionally walk through grief can evolve you in ways that nothing else in life can.

So, let’s go through the five — well, seven — stages (with some different scenarios so that you can see how to grieve beyond death), with a bit of a twist, shall we?

1. Denial: “Life makes no sense.”

Say that you just lost your job — and ugh, can there be a worse time of year for that to happen? And here’s the thing: although it might seem like it’s a common practice to fire or lay people off in December, January is reportedly the most popular month. Either way, the reason why companies do so at this time of the year is usually due to how their fiscal year falls. Anyway, when it’s you, do you even care about the reasons behind it?

All you know is you (almost always) didn’t see it coming, you’ve got bills that you had a hard time keeping up with before losing your gig, and now you have no clue what to do. The sheer shock of it all can put you into an utter state of denial because you truly can’t believe what is going on. Deeper than that, though, as Dr. Kübler-Ross breaks down what denial feels like, things just don’t make sense to you right now.

Before no longer being employed, sure there were challenges. Oh, but now, you don’t even know how you’re going to handle those. And when things don’t make sense, life can be paralyzing.

Denial stage: If there is something that you’ve recently lost that have you feeling exactly this way, you need to be able to call it out by name because, in order for things to become sensical (i.e., logically coherent) again in your mind, you’ve got to know what, specifically, has thrown you off to begin with. That said, what have you lost this year that may still not make sense to you?

2. Anger: “Anger is strength.”

When it comes to the emotion known as anger, I’ve always appreciated the Scripture that instructs, “Be angry, and do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still. Selah” (Psalm 4:4-NKJV) At the end of the day, there is nothing wrong with being angry; anger simply means that you are displeased with something or someone — and when you lose something or someone and the emotion that you feel is anger, the dissatisfaction that’s within you is what will cause you to want to make some changes in your life so that you’re not feeling anger…forever.

Yeah, interestingly enough, when anger is imbalanced and goes all the way to the extreme, a synonym for it is acrimony — and I’m sure more than a few of us have watched Tyler Perry’s movie Acrimony (my opinion about it…I digress) to get just how problematic that can be. And yet, did you peep the pull-out quote from Dr. Kübler-Ross that I went with on anger and then what the Bible verse says that you should do when you are angry? Say that you just found out that a friend betrayed you. Although you may want to act out on how displeased you are, THERE IS STRENGTH IN BEING STILL — and then processing for a moment.

Anger stage: If losing something — even if it’s simply realizing that someone isn’t who you thought that they were — has you super frustrated right now, rather than “doing something about it,” take a moment to figure out what you are so dissatisfied with. That way, you can put steps in place to have better discernment and healthier boundaries in the future.

Exhibiting the kind of self-control that responds instead of reacts is a true sign of real maturity, and oftentimes, you don’t realize you’ve gotten there until you go through the loss of something that has angered you so.

3. Bargaining: “We remain in the past, trying to negotiate our way out of the hurt.”

Chile, is it bargaining — or is it begging? There is someone I know who is attached to such a toxic individual; one way I know that to be true is because she is constantly “bargaining” in order to try and make the relationship work (well, last, because it really isn’t working). Because she so wants things to be how they were, shoot, 20 years ago, she finds herself trying to make deals with the guy, with herself, and even with God (via the “If you make him do this, I will do that” prayers).

Honestly, it’s so difficult to watch her remain in the pattern of bargaining that I’ve had to mentally and emotionally remove myself a bit because she is literally hellbent on remaining stuck in the past even though philosopher Thomas Hobbes once so eloquently stated, “Hell is truth seen too late.” As I’ve been processing all of this, what I realize is probably what’s hardest to see is how much she is remaining loyal to the past, even though the past is gone.

It’s like she would literally rather remain loyal to “back then” with him, even though both of them are not the same people anymore — even though it is totally at the cost of what could be…with someone else…who would probably be so much better for her.

Bargaining stage: The fascinating thing about the bargaining stage of grief is it’s like you want to avoid the pain that’s associated with loss so much that you’re not even willing to consider that the pain won’t last always. Plus, it could be strengthening you for so much more that is in store. That said, if you are constantly making deals with someone or prayer deals with God, ask yourself if, like C. S. Lewis said, fear is motivating you — because if that is the case, yeah…that ain’t good.

Another Scripture? “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.” (I John 4:18 — NKJV) This Scripture is a reminder that when you’re in the bargaining phase when it comes to loss, all you’re really doing is…well, tormenting yourself. So, take a moment to ponder if, on some level, right now…are you? Are you trying so hard to avoid the pain of releasing the past that you’re only causing more harm to yourself in the process?

4. Depression: “Empty feelings present themselves…”

If you’ve ever heard before that depression is simply “anger turned inward,” it is the famed neurologist Sigmund Freud who once said it, and yes, there can certainly be some truth to that. To me, though, I think depression (not clinical depression but the kind that is typically associated with grief) is more about…emotional exhaustion. Like Dr. Kübler-Ross says, you have been feeling so much about what you have lost that you don’t have much of anything left — including hope.

What’s potentially concerning about that, though, is it’s important to remember what one of my favorite definitions of hope actually is: “the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best.” Did you peep that hope doesn’t always mean that you can have what you want (including what you may have lost)? Oh, but if you hold on to hope anyway, what you can be sure of is, at some point, you will see how things really did turn out for the and your best.

Depression stage: The end of a relationship. The loss of a pet. The unexpected emptiness that comes from changing jobs, leaving a church, or moving to another city. If one of the top words that you would use to describe how you are feeling is depressed, and now you realize that more accurately, it’s because there is a sense of hopelessness, now is the time to remember that, again, just because something may not have gone as you wanted it to, that doesn’t mean that the universe does not have your best interest, in mind.

Now is the time to explore and express what has caused you to lose hope (the first definition) and what you can do to restore it (the second one).

5. Acceptance: "We must learn to reorganize roles, re-assign them to others or take them on ourselves."

As a control freak in recovery, something that has made going through my own seasons of grief move a lot faster is learning to accept things — for starters, accepting that loss is a part of life, and absolutely no one escapes it. This means that when I do lose a person, place, thing, or even (sometimes an) idea, that doesn’t mean that the world is against me; it simply means that I am not exceptional when it comes to escaping grief — that I must humble myself and accept that very real fact.

And what does it mean to be at a place of acceptance? Acceptance is about flexibility. Acceptance is about patience. Acceptance is about…just what the quote up top says about acceptance: knowing that it’s time to reorganize some things because, when we lose something or someone, it is time to shift…and then be okay with the shifting that is required — and necessary.

Acceptance stage: If something has happened in your life that you just refuse to accept, ask yourself why that is the case. If you’re really and truly honest with yourself, a lot of it probably has to do with the fact that you’re still trying to control things that are well beyond your control — and gee, why put yourself through the drama and trauma of continuing to do that?

As philosopher Maxime Lagacé once said, “The first step towards change is acceptance. Once you accept yourself, you open the door to change. That’s all you have to do.” And you know what? Really, at the end of the day, all acceptance is saying is, “I recognize the loss and how it has altered my life. Now, I am ready to reorganize some things, create a new normal, and embrace who I am about to become as a result of what has transpired.”

Bonus Stages of the Grieving Process

Once you have completed these exercises in the traditional five stages of grief, it’s time to tackle what I call “bonus stages” — it’s time to test out some new situations and make the decision to look at it all with a positive lens.

Testing: Experimenting with New Situations

Question: When was the last time you experimented with your life by doing something new? When it’s all said and done, experimenting is simply doing something in order to learn what you don’t already know. And y’all, after a loss, one thing that can be exciting about what’s next (after going through the acceptance stage) is you can give yourself permission to do things that are unfamiliar — things that will help you to learn about who you now are as the direct result of how the loss has transformed you.

Yes, once you’ve fully accepted that you are now a different person, it’s time to find some new/other people, places, things, and ideas that will complement who and what loss has caused you to become. And if you look at it from the right perspective, that can cause excitement to replace your feelings of despair (which, by definition, is a loss of hope).

Decision: The Optimism of Trying Out Something New

Choosing to be positive. Sometimes, grief will try and lie to you by saying that you don’t have a choice in how to feel or be. And although you should absolutely allow yourself to go through all of the stages of grief (so that you can process your loss fully), the mere fact that you have survived/are surviving the loss means that you are stronger than you are giving yourself credit for.

It also means that yes, you can CHOOSE TO BE POSITIVE about what the loss has taught you about you, along with what lies ahead as the “new” you. And so, as you are “testing things out,” choose what will make you feel great about what’s next. Don’t compromise that on any level.

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It is Queen Elizabeth who said around the time of the 9/11 terrorist attacks that, “Grief is the price that we pay for love.” When we care about something profoundly, and we lose it, grief comes. Hopefully, though, this article has shown you how to work through grief in a way where you won’t fear it; instead, decide to embrace grief because you know that it almost certainly brings about (internal) change and, if you choose well, ultimately…change for the better.

And y’all, that is why I think “grieving into new seasons” is an absolutely wonderful (and highly recommended) thing to do. When processed differently, grief can be its own gift. Amen.

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