Coping with Grief Overview

Grief is a normal and natural emotional response and Le Pine's funeral directors understand that, at least for a time, grief caused by the loss of a loved one can lead to an all consuming sadness. Coping with this loss often requires a substantial emotional and physical effort and can sometimes be overwhelming.

When faced with a major life challenge it is normal for a person to experience a wide range of physical and emotional responses. This includes numbness, denial, confusion, shock, sadness, yearning, anger, despair and guilt. These are all common emotional responses for a person grieving.

A grieving person may have mood swings such as feeling fine one moment and then depressed, anxious, distressed or angry the next. This is all very normal. People also deal with death very differently with no-one else experiencing a loss in exactly the same way.

Different cultures and religions also see death, loss and grief from different perspectives. How you express your grief and the meaning you give to each loss will be in your own way and will be based on your own beliefs and views about the world.

The grieving process takes time and healing usually happens gradually. Your feelings of loss and sadness may never go away, but with time the grief will lighten.

In this section you will find information on managing grief, the answers to some frequently asked questions on the topic of grief and information on some of the resources we are aware of to assist you with your journey with grief.

The information in this section contains some extracts from “Now that the funeral is over - understanding the effects of grief” by Doris Zagdanski copyright 1993. They are reproduced with kind permission of the author.