Bereavement refers to a person’s overall process of recovering from the death of a loved one. Grief is the emotional reaction to any form of loss. So grieving, then, is what you do when you are in bereavement. Both encompass a wide range of emotions such as fear, anger, confusion, relief, regret, loneliness, guilt (often stemming from the sense of being relieved that the loved-one is gone because they are no longer suffering), and of course, intense sadness.

Grief and bereavement are highly individual experiences and people experience them in very different ways, depending on upbringing, culture, religious beliefs, relationship to the person who died, and many other factors.

Grief can be experienced physically, emotionally, and socially.

A few common symptoms in these categories are:

Physical

• Crying and sighing
• Headaches
• Loss of appetite
• Difficulty sleeping
• Weakness
• Fatigue

Emotional

• Feelings of sadness and yearning
• Feelings of worry or anger
• Feelings of frustration or guilt

Social

• Feeling detached from others
• Self-isolation from social contact
• Behaving in ways that are not normal for you

Every grieving experience is different, not only between individuals, but one individual may grieve the death of one person in a very different way than the death of another person. They may be able to continue their day-to-day routines after one loss, yet not be able to get out of bed after the loss of someone else. When it comes to grief and loss, the main rule is that there really are no rules.