Culled from Grief.com
Although we all deal with loss in our own way it is safe to say that there is usually a grieving period within which we often feel an array of emotions. These emotions have been placed into a staged system known as the Five Stages of Healing, broken-down to denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. These stages are a part of the framework that can be reflected on as a means of we can use when moving though the experience of losing someone.
DENIAL: This first stage of grieving helps us to survive the loss. In this stage, the world becomes
meaningless and overwhelming. Life makes no sense. We are in a state of shock and denial. We go numb. We wonder how we can go on, if we can go on, why we should go on. We try to find a way to simply get through each day. Denial and shock help us to cope and make survival possible. Denial helps us to pace our feelings of grief. There is a grace in denial. It is nature’s way of letting in only as much as we can handle. As you accept the reality of the loss and start to ask yourself questions, you are unknowingly beginning the healing process. You are becoming stronger, and the denial is beginning to fade. But as you proceed, all the feelings you were denying begin to surface.