Not depressed, just sad, lonely or unhappy

This is a great article. Definitely worth a read.

But bereavement, of which I have much sorrowful experience is, alas, part of the natural course of life's sad events...

Grief is desperately upsetting: it hurts you for ages, and the loss of someone you love is emotionally painful, and can be enduringly so. But why not call it by its proper name: bereavement: grief: loss?

One reason may be that we are losing old rituals which human beings have practised for eons.

When I was a young woman in France in the 1960s, you would come across a shop with its blinds drawn, and a notice saying: "Ferme pour deuil": closed for mourning.

It is still seen in France, and is also a usual response in Italy. Mourning symbols were widespread in all cultures - widows' weeds, black armbands - and the community was expected to respect those who mourn.

Outward signs of mourning have declined, if not been abolished in more secular societies now: but our sense of sadness and loss endure, and instead of this being called mourning, it is called "trauma".

               from Not depressed, just sad, lonely or unhappy

 

In a culture hell bent on avoiding messy emotion, how can we normalize the experience of grief and support those who are grieving?