What Are the Five Stages?
The five stages of grief, as described by David1 McM. D. McM. D. McM. D. and others, are a framework for understanding the emotional journey through loss. They are not steps to be followed in order but phases that overlap and return. They are:
- Loss: The initial reaction to the news of a death.
- Grieving: The initial emotional response to the loss.
- Grief: The period of deepest emotional response.
- Recovery: The beginning of the return to a new normal.
- Resolution: The resolution of the grief and the integration of the loss into the ongoing life.
Loss
The first stage is the loss itself — the moment of hearing the news, the initial shock, the first hours and days. It is often the most intense stage, but it is also the one that passes most quickly. The loss is not the deepest stage of grief but the most sudden one.
Grieving
Grieving is the period after the initial loss has passed, when the emotional response begins to deepen. It is often experienced as feelings of loss, separation, and the feeling that something that was been beside the person for years is now gone.
Grief
The deepest stage of grief is often the one that is most difficult to navigate. It is the period of deepest emotional response, often experienced as feelings of profound loss, of the feeling that everything has come undone.
Recovery and Resolution
Recovery is the beginning of the return to a new normal. It is often a long process, and it is not linear. The stages overlap and return — the person who is grieving may return to deeper stages even after they have begun to recover.
Resolution is the integration of the loss into the ongoing life. It is not the end of grief but the point at which the grief becomes one of the many losses that are part of a life, rather than the central one.
The Stages Are Not Linear
The stages are not steps to be followed in order. They overlap, they return, and they are unique to each person. The framework is a way of understanding the emotional journey, not a formula for navigating it.
Rituals and the Stages
Rituals of remembrance — like those described in our Funerary Rites articles — can help at every stage. They provide a sense of order and purpose at a time that is often experienced as chaos, and they carry meaning that helps the living find a path through grief.