You don’t need to think about cremation services Evanston, IL until your loved one passes away. When that happens, you don’t have time to waste. You may succumb to grief, and you want to get the planning out of the way first.

Many years ago, people discovered that grief often followed stages. These stages aren’t rigid, and your grief may follow a different pattern, but it’s still important to know what they are. The knowledge may help you get your own life in gear.

If you feel as though your grief has become too far to manage, you can speak with a professional grief counselor. You can work through the five stages together.

Denial

Denial happens when you refuse to acknowledge that your loved one has died. Instead, you pretend that it never happened. This wishful thinking may be soothing at first, but ultimately, it leads to more pain. Eventually, you’ll have to accept what happened. The delay won’t make it any easier. This stage may be short as you will be confronted with hard evidence.

Anger

When denial fades, anger often takes its place. This could be rage at what happened, rage at the world, rage at yourself. You feel angry because something terrible happened and there was nothing you can do to stop it. The reaction is understandable, but it doesn’t help anyone. Anger can actually make you behave in a way that you’ll regret later.

Bargaining

Bargaining comes next. You may have to deal with thoughts like “what if we had done things differently?” It can almost feel as though the death is your fault. If you could have done something differently, they would still be alive. This type of thinking isn’t helpful because it only hurts you. You’ll start focusing on things that aren’t true, things that “might” have happened.

Depression

Your life can be severely affected by depression. The little things you enjoyed in life have lost their flavor. There are different kinds of depression. One kind is a natural sadness over what happened. It’s okay to feel your loss. Another type of depression focuses on feelings of sadness and despair. It can overwhelm you to the point where you can’t move on. This can be most difficult phase to move past.

Acceptance

Acceptance happens when you can look at reality without trying to change it or becoming enraged. Real acceptance, however, is hard to come by. You may need to seek professional help. Acceptance may not happen before the funeral. But this is the goal that you’re working for.

Grief is a strange, tricky emotion. Yet, because it affects everyone, there are methods that you can use to move forward. Learning how to deal with grief is one of the lessons that everyone can benefit from. You can carry this knowledge with you to the memorial service. Losing someone you love will never be easy. But it something

When you need cremation services Evanston, IL, it’s a very demanding time in life. We can help.