What Is The Meaning of Grief?

When searching for the meaning of grief, there are many explanations.

The medical definition of grief is – The normal process of reacting to a loss. The loss may be physical (such as a death), social (such as divorce), or occupational (such as a job). Emotional reactions to grief can include anger, guilt, anxiety, sadness, and despair. Physical reactions to grief can include sleeping problems, changes in appetite, physical problems, or illness. – MedicineNet 

In his book, “Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief,” David Kessler, a grief expert who himself needed to find meaning following the sudden death of his 21-year-old son, writes that “meaning comes through finding a way to sustain your love for the person after their death while you’re moving forward with your life. Loss is simply what happens to you in life. Meaning is what you make happen.”

And, according to the American Psychological Association, grief is “the anguish experienced after significant loss, usually the death of a beloved person. Grief is often distinguished from bereavement and mourning. Not all bereavements result in a strong grief response, and not all grief is given public expression (see disenfranchised grief). Grief often includes physiological distress, separation anxiety, confusion, yearning, obsessive dwelling on the past, and apprehension about the future. Intense grief can become life-threatening through disruption of the immune system, self-neglect, and suicidal thoughts. Grief may also take the form of regret for something lost, remorse for something done, or sorrow for a mishap to oneself”.  – APA Dictionary of Psychology

In the video below, Sharon Brubaker – an advanced certified grief recovery specialist – explains a new method of recovering from grief. She became an advanced certified grief recovery specialist after the tragic accidental drowning of her 10-year-old nephew, Austin, in 2006. Her heart was broken, but she was lucky enough to find the Grief Recovery Method.

Grief is one of our strongest emotions. It is the natural way to make both internal and external adjustments in response to the undesirable changes caused by loss. It’s a process that requires several changes throughout the course of time.

The process of grieving can be felt emotionally, mentally, and spiritually as well as physically. When the loss is sudden and unexpected, there is an additional experience of shock and denial that makes it more difficult for all the changes that the body needs to make.

If we experience losing a beloved one, we are required to adjust to massive changes.

These changes are similar to those that occur when danger is apparent and the instinctual need to survive “fight or flight” comes into effect.

Natural chemicals are created that trigger physiological changes within the body. The physical changes that occur may last for just a few minutes up to months and may recur every time we’re faced with an experience we’ve never experienced before.

These feelings and emotions are often described in simplistic terms like stress.

When working with those who have experienced losses to a family member, friend, co-worker, or even a pet, it is essential that the very first time we interact with them, we start helping them restore their personal control and decision-making.

Dr. Marilyn Pendelton utilizes The Grief Recovery Method® to “help grievers deal with those things they wish might have been different or better.

It gives them the chance to address their dreams and hopes for the future, which is not the future they had planned.

It helps them address the words left unspoken. It helps them with the lost relationship that they thought would cause them pain for the rest of their lives.

All these things may sound too good to be true, but this research shows that this dream of a better tomorrow is very possible, thanks to the Grief Recovery Method Action Plan!”