Grief - Overview Mourning; Grieving; Bereavement Definition of
Grief: Grief is a reaction to a major loss. It is most often an
unhappy and painful emotion. Causes, incidence, and risk
factors: Grief may be triggered by the death of a loved one.
People also can experience grief if they have an illness for
which there is no cure, or a chronic condition that affects
their quality of life. The end of a significant relationship may
also cause a grieving process. Everyone feels grief in their own
way. However, there are common stages to the process of
mourning. It starts with recognizing a loss and continues until
a person eventually accepts that loss. People's responses to
grief will be different, depending on the circumstances of the
death. For example, if the person who died had a chronic
illness, the death may have been expected. The end of the
person's suffering might even have come as a relief. If the
death was accidental or violent, coming to a stage of acceptance
might take longer. - Reviewed last on: 2/18/