Facts About Grief You May Not Have Known

Grief is an experience you don’t want to encounter, but you will find yourself in a situation where you lose a loved one. This is one of life's few guarantees - and while you may be fortunate enough to delay your first grief experience until later in life, it will inevitably happen. And at that point, you may not know what to expect. When you lose someone close to you, you'll experience shock, denial, and sadness. Grief takes over feelings and triggers emotions that cannot be explained.

Navigating this process can be incredibly challenging - especially the first time around. You don't know why you feel the things you feel - and it seems to come in waves. You can feel fine, and all of a sudden you're overcome with grief. That's why today, we're going to talk about grief and grieving to help you prepare for what's to come ahead.

We put together five facts about the grief you might not know. Knowing these facts helps process these feelings and helps you find comfort and healing. Before we get into these facts and myths about grief, let's talk about grief and grieving in general.

What Exactly Is Grief and Grieving?

Before we share some facts about grief and grieving in general that you may not know, we need to explain what this process is. What exactly is grief? This deep sorrow we all inevitably feel at some point in our lives. It is a normal response to losing a loved one. You may have a different grieving process than the next person - which is something we'll talk about later on. Grief affects people differently, and there are different stages of grief.

All of this said, grief is normal - but the way in which you react to it may not be typical to what others experience. And that's ok! This is such a difficult challenge you're facing - so expect to feel things you may have never felt before. Talking to people about your rieving process will help. That can be someone you trust in your life or a professional. Another thing that will help you navigate this troubling, uncertain experience is understanding grief more in-depth. So without any further ado, let's take a look at some facts and myths about grief.

Facts About Grief You May Not Have Known

Now that you know more about the grieving process in general, we're going to share some facts that you may not have known about prior to finding this article. Maybe you're navigating this process yourself. Or, perhaps you want to support a grieving parent and you're not sure how to go about it. Understanding these facts will help you navigate the grieving process to find healing. Let's start with the first of these facts - there are different stages you'll have to cross through until you've completely healed.

1.    Grief has stages

You experience grief in stages. They include shock, denial, depression, and acceptance. However, these stages don’t capture the feeling of grief entirely. Sometimes, you experience strong emotions and intense sadness. Some of these feelings fade away with time. Other times, the feelings are felt intensely.

You experiencing these doesn’t mean you are not healing or managing grief well. This is because recovery from grief does not follow a laid-down pattern.

2.    Expressing emotions is not a sign of weakness

Expressing your feelings by crying or speaking about them does not mean you are weak. In moments of grief, you are sad, angry, and withdrawn from the rest of the world. This shows more strength than weakness.

These feelings are usual reactions to grief. They are valid. You don’t need to shield these feelings from people who are willing to support you. Expressing how you feel helps them understand how to support you.

3.    People understand death differently

Although people feel pain from grief, they can not express it the same way. Some express it through anger. For others, it is an overwhelming expression of sadness. When people go through this, they should be given support and time to heal.

4.    Grief triggers guilt

You sometimes blame yourself for the death of a loved one. You wish you could have done something else to prevent their demise. You regret some actions and wish things had been done differently. However, guilt affects well-being. You need to let go of this feeling and find peace in accepting that you did your best for them.

5.    Bonds can be created with your loved ones

You do not always have to let go of your beloved. You do not have to forget the deceased forever. Instead, you can create a bond with them. As you choose to move ahead with life, you may want to feel close to them.  These bonds are made by talking to them, writing to them, or discussing them in a familiar environment. You can also keep your favorite pictures of them close to you.  These help you find comfort and relief.

Wrapping Up Our Discussion On Facts About Grief

That concludes our discussion on the facts about grief. As you can see, grief is normal. But that doesn't mean it's the same. It also doesn't mean that your experience will be similar to the next person's. But what it does mean is that many people before you have grieved, and many people after you have grieved. That means you're not alone in these feelings. You do not have to navigate this process without some help along the way.

Finding a support group or someone you can talk to helps ease the pain. Share with people who have been through similar experiences. We would like to hear about your experiences, too. And if you feel that coming up with a creative way to memorialize someone may help you navigate the grieving process, we have an idea to share with you: a Forevory online memorial page. This is the #1 way to keep their legacy alive and ensure they're never forgotten.

We started this concept because we experienced grief ourselves - and we also experienced the process of future generations wanting to know more about their ancestors after they had passed. With an online memorial, you can make it easy to share their history - including their family tree, any voice notes you have left of them, their favorite photos and videos, and much more. Learn more about what is possible through Forevery - and preserve their memory forever.