Thoughtful gifts
How to Cope With Grief: A Guide Through Every Kind of Loss
Grief rarely moves in a straight line, and there is no single correct way to move through it. Below you will find guidance from people who understand loss, along with links to community and comfort as you begin to heal.
If you have lived through a loss yourself, or watched someone close to you grieve, the emotions described in these stages will likely sound familiar. At the same time, you may notice that your own grief did not unfold nearly so neatly.
You do not have to carry this alone
No two people grieve in quite the same way, but that does not mean you are meant to face it in isolation. Support groups, including private online communities, connect you with people who have stood where you are standing now, offering a safe place to share what you are going through and hear from others facing a similar loss.
What grief does to you
What actually happens inside us the moment we learn someone has died? And how do we keep moving forward from there? However the news reaches us, our bodies register the shock right away, and we respond to it whether we mean to or not.
Grief stirs up a wide range of feelings, along with plenty of questions. When you are mourning someone who mattered to you, you may notice reactions you have never had before, some of them surprising or unsettling enough to make you wonder whether what you are feeling is normal.
8 Surprising Things You May Feel After a Loved One's Death
Most people know the classic five stages of grief, but grief is not limited to a fixed set of emotions. You might be caught off guard by feelings that show up unannounced and feel strange or uncomfortable to sit with.
Why Is It So Hard to Ask for Help?
Asking for help does not come naturally to most of us, yet grief can be heavy enough that going it alone simply is not realistic. Some people around you will instinctively know how to show up; others will be waiting for you to tell them what you need.
Mourning is where the real work of grief happens. Grief itself may never fully disappear, but you can move through it toward genuine healing, something that is much harder to reach when feelings stay unspoken and pushed down.
People Want to Be Helpful, But…
Part of grieving is learning to handle both what people say to you and what they leave unsaid. Some people find loss and grieving so uncomfortable that they avoid bringing it up at all.
Mysterious Happenings After a Death
Plenty of grieving people notice something strange or hard to explain in the aftermath of a loss. It is common to feel embarrassed bringing these moments up, yet ordinary people experience extraordinary things like this all the time while grieving.
Grief Changes You: Adapting to Life After Loss
You cannot move through a loss this significant and simply resume your old life unchanged. You will be different afterward, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. As you rebuild and find your new footing, you may discover strengths in yourself you never knew were there.
Why Some Families Don't Stick Together After the Death of a Loved One
It is not unusual for families to fracture after a death. Here is a look at the reasons behind that conflict; chances are your own family situation touches on at least a few of them.
Losing someone close to you brings emotional weight on top of practical demands: arrangements, phone calls, paperwork. Bereavement leave exists so you can step away from work to grieve alongside family and friends and take care of what needs handling. Policies vary by employer and by state, so check your own workplace's specifics.
You Know You Are Getting Better When…
Grief moves slowly enough that spotting your own progress can be difficult. Here are signs that suggest you are further along in working through it than you might realize.
Talking with children about death
When a family member, friend, or someone else in a child's life dies, it can shake a young person deeply. Here is what grief can look like in a child or teen, and how you can support them through it.
What Adults Can Learn from Teen Grievers
Teenagers often grieve their peers in ways that differ from adults, and some of their instincts may actually serve them better. Adults tend to assume the flow of wisdom only runs one direction, but there is plenty we can learn from how teens handle loss too.
When Your Child Dies, Your World Turns Upside Down
No words really capture what it means to lose a child. What we do know is that the disorientation that follows is nearly universal among parents facing this. It is likely that your entire sense of the world feels upended and senseless right now.
Grief After Pregnancy and Infant Loss: You Are Not Alone
Losing a pregnancy or an infant can leave you feeling isolated, overwhelmed, even unable to function some days. Rebekah Mitchell, founder and president of Mommies Enduring Neonatal Death (M.E.N.D.), wants grieving parents to know they are not facing this by themselves.
The Love of My Life Is Gone… Will I Ever Feel Whole Again?
Whether you spent a few months together or five decades, losing a spouse or partner can feel like losing part of yourself. Here is expert guidance for coping with that particular kind of loss.
Comforting someone whose spouse has died is never simple, and it gets harder still when that person is your own parent. How do you support your surviving parent while managing your own grief at the same time?
What It Feels Like to Lose a Sibling
The bond between siblings is its own kind of relationship. Losing a brother or sister means losing someone who understood you in a way few others could, and that loss can shape you deeply.
Losing a friend leaves a real void. Here is one way to begin healing from it.
For a lot of us, the people we love are not only human. We can care just as fiercely for a dog, cat, rabbit, or even a lizard as we do for the people in our lives. Grieving a pet's death makes complete sense, yet somehow it still catches many of us off guard.
Grief After a Long Goodbye: Losing a Loved One to Illness
Watching someone you love decline physically or mentally from illness is agonizing to witness. It is genuinely hard not to start grieving before they are even gone. Knowing a loved one is dying does not make the eventual loss any less painful when it arrives.
When death comes without warning
Pain accompanies both sudden loss and loss you saw coming. Grief itself is not necessarily heavier after a sudden death, but your ability to cope in the moment often is. Here is what to do when shock from an unexpected death feels like too much to bear.
More than a million people die by suicide worldwide every year, and many millions more attempt it. Learn what individuals and organizations are doing globally to prevent suicide, and find guidance for coping with the suicide death of someone you loved.
The Grief of Families Facing Addiction
One in seven Americans will experience a substance use disorder at some point. When someone shows signs of struggling, they need medical help fast. Society often prefers to look away from how devastating addiction really is, but grieving families know exactly how real it is.
What to Do When a Veteran Dies
Grief alone is exhausting; paperwork on top of it can feel unbearable. When your loved one served in the military, you already know that signatures and official approvals come with the territory. Here is a checklist covering what needs to happen when a U.S. military veteran dies.
A funeral carries more meaning than it might seem to at first glance. It serves the living as much as it honors the person who died, functioning as an essential ritual within the grieving process. Learn about mourning customs and pick up tips for planning a funeral that feels meaningful without breaking the bank.
No Holiday from Grief: Significant Events Without Your Loved One
Life keeps moving after someone you love dies. The seasons turn, holidays arrive on schedule, and milestones keep happening whether you are ready or not. How do you handle the happy occasions life brings after such a loss?
Moving Forward, Connected Still
Conventional wisdom says healing from grief means growing past your loved one's presence, leaving the old life behind to build something new. But that is not really how healing works. We do not heal by leaving people behind; we heal by carrying them forward with us.
Some remarkable women transformed their personal losses into sources of comfort for others. Here is how grief can become a wellspring of strength rather than only sorrow.
Some links on this page are to partners who may pay us a commission if you use their service, at no extra cost to you. We only include ones we would point a friend to. Creating a memorial here is always free.
Create a memorial for the person you love
Start with their name. It is free, takes a minute, and no account is needed.
This article is general information, not professional legal, financial, tax, or medical advice. The right steps depend on your situation and the laws of your state — when it matters, check with a qualified professional.