Healthy Grief

Healthy Grief Introduction Every human being is prone to grief at any point in their life. Usually, grief is caused by loss of something that has a lot of meaning, for instance a loved one. According to Thomas (2011) death of close family members is a precursor to a prototypical grief response involving shock, tear, sadness, pining, anger, and a host of other so-called normal reactions. Why do we grieve? Grief is a natural process that helps one to adapt to the new conditions by establishing new bearings. When you come to think of it, the loss of a close member of a society affects somebody’s web of existence, and the severed links must be rebuilt in one way or another. But how do we cope with grief? People deal with grief in different ways, but one thing is common in all scenarios; the healing process takes some time, and mourning takes a significant portion of such time. This paper will try to analyse the complex topic of grief. In doing so, the paper will look into the work of Kubler-Loss and the whole aspect of the stages of grief. This will be put into context while comparing it with the story of Job’s suffering in the Bible. Further, the interaction between joy and grief will be reviewed, the whole idea being to understand healthy grief, (Dell'Osso et al, 2011). About grief Grief is a very personal thing and every person has a unique experience. The nature of grief is dependent on many factors that include experiences, coping mechanism and personality. Kubler-Ross developed the grief cycle and put it in five stages. This cycle is not necessarily a rigid process but a framework that Ross developed. This argument is better understood if you consider that some people don’t experience every of these stages when they grieve. Five Stages Of Grief The first stage of grief is denial whereby the affected person refuses to accept the reality or facts. This is purely a human and natural defence mechanism which may last sometime for some people. The second stage in this cycle is anger which is manifest in a number of ways. Anger is usually directed to close people, or even oneself. Then there is the bargaining stage where the affected person seeks a compromise, either with God or somebody. The fourth stage of grief is depression which is normally a preparation for life after the cause of grief. Victims of grief have different bearings regarding this stage of the cycle. When it comes to the acceptance stage, the person is more objective and emotionally detached (Dell'Osso et al, 2011). Compared To Job’s Predicament Looking at the story of Job in the bible, there is a huge correlation with the grieving process as defined by Kubler-Ross. God had given Job a lot of things but he later lost everything. By losing his wealth and sons, and getting ill, Job was in financial and emotional suffering. Though he was left with the wife, she added spiritual misery to him. The wife would constantly tell him to rebuke God for the losses. Her argument was that if Job insulted God, he would die and the suffering would end. The first stage of grief is evident...