Many men arrive in adulthood carrying something heavy they were never taught how to name. It isn’t always obvious grief. There may be no recent funeral, no single event they point to and say, "that’s it." Instead, there is a low-grade ache, a tightness in the chest, a sense of emotional distance, irritability, or exhaustion that never fully lifts. Life...[ read more ]
Bargaining is just another way of saying that we get what we want by giving the other person or persons what they want. In our daily lives bargaining may look like exchanging money for clothes, food, and other necessities, offering to provide your friends dinner if they agree to help you move, or agreeing to split your meal with a...[ read more ]
When we think of denial, we think about choosing to not believe something that it true. Denial is seen as purposeful ignoring of reality. Although some people do choose to ignore facts and reality, it is more common that we deny something without realizing that we are doing it. This is particularly true when it comes to grieving. Denial in...[ read more ]
Although grief is always caused by loss, loss does not always lead to grief. For example, we would most likely not grieve the loss of our car keys or the death of a movie star that we never heard of. As last week's blog post mentioned, we grieve the loss of the people and things that we truly loved and...[ read more ]