When you lose a loved one, your own life significantly changes. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross provided a framework for understanding the grieving process when she first identified the profound responses of patients with terminal illness. The emotional stages they experienced—denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance—can also explain how people grieve a loved one’s death. This five-part CareNote series on the stages of grief provides landmarks for your own road to healing.

Facing the Emptiness of Depression: The depression that accompanies grief is a natural response. It’s generally not a sign of mental illness. (More on that later.) But the disorientation, the hopelessness, the heartache can make you believe that you’re “going crazy,” as I’ve heard many persons say.

By Karen Katafiasz