Grief is a reaction to a major loss. It is most often an unhappy
and painful emotion. Mourning; Grieving; Bereavement 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. One way to describe grief is in
five stages. These reactions mig