Everyone’s grief process is different.

Stating that there are five stages in earthquake trauma, just like in the grieving process, Specialist Clinical Psychologist Penbesel Özdemir said that these stages are listed as denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Noting that these stages are not experienced by everyone in the same way, Özdemir said, “While the situation in which one of us stays in the anger stage lasts longer, it can be easier for one of us to transition to the acceptance stage. Each of us can experience these processes differently.” said. Özdemir, who also mentioned the negative effects of prolonged grief that lasted for about two months, recommended getting expert support.

Üsküdar University NPİSTANBUL Brain Hospital Specialist Clinical Psychologist Penbesel Özdemir stated that there are five stages in earthquake trauma, as in the grief process, and evaluated the characteristics of these periods.

There are five stages in the grieving process

Specialist Clinical Psychologist Penbesel Özdemir, who stated that the grief process is a process defined by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross and consists of some stages, listed these stages as denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.

Denial Phase: People go through a shock after they are faced with an unexpected situation. For this reason, this stage is also called the ‘shock’ stage. The shock and denial phase begins with some sentences such as “This does not happen to me”, “He will not really be dead”. This process is based on the denial of the current situation.

Anger Stage: In the other stage, the person goes into the anger stage. This process comes after the denial stage, and after the loss, a stage of disappointment and anger begins. Because some feelings such as guilt and regret may arise after the loss of the person. Feelings such as anger and distress begin to increase with the feeling of being blocked because of not being able to do what they want to do together, to think that they lost early, because their wishes and expectations can no longer be realized. During this period, of course, the person questions why it happened to me, or starts to look for a criminal and starts questioning. Anger accompanies this process.

Bargaining Stage: The other process is the bargaining stage, and in this process, a bargaining process is started with the creator. The return of the lost person is a process related to being alive. There is also an attitude we show towards our relatives, whom we feel are closer to death. It is a period in which more negotiations are made, such as “Let him not die, so be it”. We can show such attitudes for our relatives who survived but are now close to death. For example, it is a process that is heard for people who are under the rubble during the earthquake or who are still in a critical period after the earthquake.

Depression Stage: In the depression stage, the person now begins to experience the helplessness of that loss. The period when we take the reality of loss into our lives is the stage of depression. During this period, the person also begins to experience emotions characterized by depression. These feelings are experienced during the depression stage, such as reluctance, lack of energy, pessimism, guilt, and loss of interest.

Acceptance Stage: The next stage is the acceptance stage, a stage where we accept that death is now a part and fact of our lives. Here we see that, no matter how much we bargain, we come to a period where we see that there is no situation that we can bring back, therefore accepting is the healthiest way. This is the stage where we remember our beautiful memories of the person we lost, feel gratitude and see that life can go on without them.

Everyone can experience this process differently.

Specialist Clinical Psychologist Penbesel Özdemir stated that these stages are not experienced by everyone in the same way and said, “None of us live like this in order, or we do not complete each stage in turn. While it takes longer for one of us to stay in the anger phase, it may also be easier for one of us to transition into the acceptance phase. We are talking about the theoretical part of the job, but of course, when we encounter it in practice, the experience of each of us may differ.” said.

Prolonged grief must be supported

Specialist Clinical Psychologist Penbesel Özdemir, who stated that the concepts called both prolonged grief and incomplete grief came to the fore in this process, said, “It becomes very difficult for a person to live this process in a healthy way unless they can reach their loss and be sure whether they are alive or not. When the mourning is prolonged, for example, if these reactions continue for more than 2 months, that is, the intense longing for the deceased, the state of being constantly in those memories and thoughts, if the person now has a clear insecurity about death, avoids remembering their losses, is in intense emotional pain, If he has difficulty in adapting to his life and the feelings of meaninglessness and emptiness in life increase, a prolonged grieving process can be mentioned. For a situation that needs to be handled clinically, psychological support is absolutely necessary.” warned.

Source: (BYZHA) – Beyaz News Agency