Human beings are the most complex creatures. And in today’s scenario, competing in the race to achieve as much as we can, and as fast as we can, most of us have failed to keep our emotions in check. So when a situation occurs that triggers our emotional system, we barely know how to handle it or to overcome it. Emotions are never black and white. They have the capability to affect us in ways we can never understand. This is where scientific theories come in that explain how we function when faced with different emotions.
Grief is a very strong emotion. It is not just concentrated on a particular part, it affects your whole system, be it emotional, physical or mental. There are many situations where we are engulfed by grief. It might be because of a prolonged suffering or a sudden heartache. Our mind goes through so much when we grieve that we fail to identify what is happening, let alone trying to overcome it.
To elaborate on the grief, Ms. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross came up with a Kubler-Ross model in her book, On Death and Dying in 1969.
She stated that there are 5 stages of grief - denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance.
First Stage
The first stage being denial refers to the state of a person to remain in denial, to escape reality and shielding oneself from further pain. Denying what has happened to you is a very natural reaction. When the intensity of pain is strong then being in denial helps to manage the overbearing pain. The idea that your loss can never be replaced is very intense and denial seems an appropriate reaction to cope up with your loss.