Grieving Native American Parents at the Forest Gravesite of Their Child
Inspirational Quotes
Society evolves not by shouting each other down, but by the unique capacity of unique, individual human beings to comprehend each other. |
| Introduction to Grief |
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Grief is both the internal and external reaction to loss and is a universal part of life. Grief not only occurs in every culture in the world, but also appears to be a phenomenon that is not limited to humans. There have been stories for ages about birds that mate for life searching for their lost mate. When a herd of elephants comes across the skull of a former member of the herd, some of them use their trunks to gently move and sniff the skull as if they are remembering. The most provocative examples of possible animal grief are those involving gorillas. Therefore, we can be assured that the grief we experience after the death of a loved one is a natural reaction to loss. Some people may question if grief is a healthy response to loss, even if it is natural. I think there are three reasons for this concern. First, both grief and an illness make it harder to function, at least temporarily. Second, we may experience grief reactions we have never encountered before and think something is drastically wrong with us. We must be sick for this to be happening to us. Third, we tend to use words to describe grief that we associate with an illness, words such as “heal,” “symptoms,” and “recover.” However, grief is not a disease; it is a “dis-ease.” We are no longer “at ease” and are experiencing a disruption in the stability of our normal day-to-day lives. There is no sick condition in the mind or the body directly caused by bacteria, viruses, physiological problems, etc. like there is with a disease. Grief is a healthy reaction to a loss. For a more in-depth discussion about grief and disease, please see my blog Grief: Grief and Disease.
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