Grief is not a process with five stages. It is shattered glass
The five stages describe a grief that’s knowable and controlled. An accident in my kitchen helped me find a truer metaphor
by Joshua Thomas
Grief
Seeing grieving as learning explains why the process takes time
Standard features of human memory and learning can help explain the disorientation that follows the death of a loved one
by Saren H Seeley & Mary-Frances O’Connor
Why do so many of us blame ourselves after a loved one’s death?
After losing my father, I felt the guilt and regret that burden many other bereaved people – and found a way to carry them
by Delaney Rebernik
Why so many of us see our loved ones after they have died
These experiences – which are more of an illusion than a hallucination – can be a healthy part of the grieving process
by Shayla Love
How to express your grief
The initial shock might be over. But you need time and space to ‘ride the wave’ of grief if you are to find a sense of peace
by Sue Morris
The families of people who commit sex crimes need care and support
While they deal with a kind of grief, the relatives of those who harm others sexually are subject to blame and judgment
by Azadeh Nematy
There is consolation in a philosophical approach to grief
Grief feels bad, but that doesn’t mean we’d be better without it. By highlighting what we value, it can help us adapt to loss
by Michael Cholbi
What geometry taught me about grief
And how thinking about grief gave me new insights into geometry
by Michael Frame
What it means for something to ‘sink in’ emotionally
The impact of important events is more than an emotion or mood – it must ‘sink in’, which is a process that unfolds in time
by Matthew Ratcliffe
Ancient Akkadian poems and medical texts reveal grief’s universals
The oldest story in the world, the ‘Epic of Gilgamesh’, shows us that the pain of grief is a fundamental part of being human
by Moudhy Al-Rashid
‘A tattoo is for life’: how memorial tattoos help the bereaved
More intimate and permanent than other reminders, tattoos offer an embodied form of meaning-making in the wake of loss
by Jennifer L Buckle & Sonya Corbin Dwyer
The loss remains, so why does intense grief usually fade?
Grief’s ‘double vision’ beholds both the bereaved and dead. Recognising this duality helps explain our ability to move on
by Berislav Marušić
The hug from a stranger that helped me overcome my grief
Levinas explains how connecting with strangers helped me move through my grief to imagine new possibilities for the future
by Will Buckingham
Scenes unfold like Romantic paintings in a touching meditation on grief
Directed by Hayk Matevosyan
The psychic who healed me
It was just like her – my bold, dead mother – to show up in my life again. Or was grief playing tricks on me?
by Amanda Leigh Lichtenstein
After my mom died, I found comfort in a medieval Andalusi tale
Ibn Tufayl’s story of a man mourning the gazelle who raised him helped me appreciate the interconnection of all things
by Veronica Menaldi