Bart Durham Personal Injury News & Blog

The Stages of Grief After a Loved One's Wrongful Death

Written by Bart Durham Injury Law | Sep 21, 2018 3:45:02 PM

Losing a loved one due to wrongful death can be overwhelming, stressful and nearly impossible to handle.

Let's review the five stages of grief after the wrongful death of a loved one.

Stage One

Denial is the first stage of grief. You will likely deny what happened. You might deny that your loved one is gone. This is perfectly normal. Denial helps us deal with the pain that has made its way into our lives.

Stage Two

The second stage of grief is anger. You will be filled with anger. You might take this anger out on family members, strangers, pets, friends, inanimate objects and yourself. You might also express anger with your loved one for leaving you.

Stage Three

Bargaining is the third stage of grief. This is when we start thinking about all of the 'what if's' if life associated with the wrongful death of your loved one. For example, "what if I went with him the night he died? He might be alive today."

Stage Four

Stage four of grief is depression. You will experience depression the minute you learn of your loved one's death. Depression will involve worrying about funeral costs, living life without your loved one and sadness.

Stage Five

The fifth and final stage of grief is acceptance. Not every person touched by death will reach this stage. Many who do will need a lot of time to get to this place.

Have you suffered the unthinkable loss of a beloved family member due to the negligence of someone else? It can be impossible to heal from such a tragedy. If you know the stages of grief, you can begin to heal.