In this episode, we're going to explore a fundamental aspect of grief - the common emotions experienced in each stage.
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Speaker 1: Hey there. Welcome to grief, untangled, untangling the threats of
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Speaker 1: grief healing and hope. This is coachDD here and in
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Speaker 1: this podcast, I'm going to take up a fundamental aspects,
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Speaker 1: the common emotions that are experienced in each stages of
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Speaker 1: grief that I spoke about in the last podcast.
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Speaker 1: So let's get in before we go into the topic.
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Speaker 1: I would like to emphasize that grief is a very
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Speaker 1: complex journey and understanding, it can help us navigate it
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Speaker 1: with more compassion and self care. Although the number of
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Speaker 1: emotions that you may experience in each stages of grief
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Speaker 1: could be many. But in this podcast, I'm going to
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Speaker 1: talk about the top three emotions that you may experience.
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Speaker 1: The first stage, which is the denial stage,
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Speaker 1: number of emotions that we may experience here could be many.
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Speaker 1: But the first emotion that I'm going to talk about
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Speaker 1: is the disbelief. It is an emotion where you find
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Speaker 1: it difficult to accept the reality of the law, maybe externally,
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Speaker 1: we have accepted this loss. But internally, we still believe
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Speaker 1: that something of this sort cannot happen. Maybe it is
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Speaker 1: just a bad dream. And when we wake up tomorrow
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Speaker 1: we will realize it was not the
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Speaker 1: reality, it was just a bad dream. Slowly. After we
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Speaker 1: navigate through this emotion of disbelief, we come to a
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Speaker 1: realization that the pain might be too unbearable for us
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Speaker 1: and to protect ourselves from that pain. We take hold
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Speaker 1: of the second emotion wherein we create an emotion shield
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Speaker 1: around us so that , we can bear this pain
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Speaker 1: because at this moment, probably
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Speaker 1: we are not yet ready to bear that pain. And
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Speaker 1: that is where this emotion is quite helpful for us
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Speaker 1: to protect. The third emotion is the confusion in this emotion.
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Speaker 1: We feel we get conflicting thoughts and that makes us
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Speaker 1: unsure about how to cope up with this loss that
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Speaker 1: you are currently experiencing. So the next stage which gets
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Speaker 1: its name from the most common emotion that is experienced
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Speaker 1: in this stage is the anger stage. And the first
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Speaker 1: emotion that I'm going to talk about is anger itself.
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Speaker 1: It's a very powerful emotion that is often directed towards oneself,
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Speaker 1: towards others, towards the deceased or to God. Even we
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Speaker 1: find ourselves getting angry for silly reasons, for situations to people.
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Speaker 1: And it becomes quite difficult to manage that emotion. The
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Speaker 1: next emotion is the frustration. It is an emotion that
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Speaker 1: gives us a feeling of powerlessness. We feel that we
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Speaker 1: are unable to change the situation and that leads to
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Speaker 1: our frustration. The third emotion is the resentment. This
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Speaker 1: emotion causes us to feel bitterness because of the unresolved issues,
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Speaker 1: unfulfilled wishes or the secondary losses that we are experiencing
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Speaker 1: apart from the primary loss of the love. The next
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Speaker 1: stage that I'm going to talk about is the bargaining stage,
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Speaker 1: which is a stage of what tips. And if only
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Speaker 1: the first emotion that is experienced in that stage is
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Speaker 1: the regret. It is an emotion wherein we reflect upon
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Speaker 1: our actions of the past and we regret about it.
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Speaker 1: We feel that maybe if only I had been a
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Speaker 1: better spouse,
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Speaker 1: if only I had been a better son or a daughter,
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Speaker 1: and that makes us feel regretful about this. The next emotion,
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Speaker 1: which is the guilt is an emotion where you feel
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Speaker 1: that you could have done something more about it. Maybe
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Speaker 1: you could have been on time. Maybe you could have
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Speaker 1: taken some actions earlier, maybe you could have done some
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Speaker 1: tests earlier or maybe you could have reached to the
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Speaker 1: hospital on time or anything like that. Anything which is
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Speaker 1: directed towards ourselves. Something that makes
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Speaker 1: believe that you could have done something better is an
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Speaker 1: emotion that that causes us to make us feel guilty about.
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Speaker 1: The next emotion is the anxiety. This emotion brings uncertainty
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Speaker 1: of the future and the inability to control. Anxiety comes
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Speaker 1: from our imagination. Playing the worst scenario. Move. The next
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Speaker 1: stage that I'm going to talk about is the depression
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Speaker 1: stage in this stage. The first emotion that we experience
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Speaker 1: is a sadness. The sadness is a profound sorrow that
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Speaker 1: we experience all the time and everywhere we are
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Speaker 1: able to concentrate on our work on other things that
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Speaker 1: we are doing with the daily activities that we are
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Speaker 1: involved in and you feel a loss of your productivity.
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Speaker 1: The next emotion is isolation with this emotion. We feel
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Speaker 1: emotionally disconnected. We feel that we are not, we are
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Speaker 1: not having any connection with anyone and we feel very isolated.
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Speaker 1: The next emotion is empathy, a lack of interest or
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Speaker 1: motivation in activities once enjoyed may occur as a result
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Speaker 1: of the overwhelming grief that we are. The next stage
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Speaker 1: is the acceptance
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Speaker 1: stage in this stage. The number one emotion that we
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Speaker 1: experience is a serenity. Serenity is a sense of peace
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Speaker 1: and calmness which may emerge as individuals come to terms
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Speaker 1: with the loss. Next emotion is understanding, acceptance can bring
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Speaker 1: a clearer understanding of the course of life and and
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Speaker 1: we get a better hold of the reality of the situation.
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Speaker 1: The next emotion is hope in this emotion, embracing, acceptance
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Speaker 1: allows us to find hope for the future and that
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Speaker 1: begins the process of healing. Finally,
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Speaker 1: it is important to remember that these emotions are not
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Speaker 1: and it's natural to move back and forth between the stages.
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Speaker 1: Grief is a unique and and an individual journey and
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Speaker 1: there is no right or wrong way to explain. I
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Speaker 1: would like to thank you for joining me. Today, I
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Speaker 1: hope this episode sheds some light on the common emotions
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Speaker 1: experienced in each stage. So stay tuned for more insightful
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Speaker 1: discussion on our upcoming episodes. Take care and remember that
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Speaker 1: healing and hope are within reach. Until next time, this
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Speaker 1: is Coach DD from Grief Untangled. signing off.