Recently I saw an article about our need to look after ourselves as best we can at this time of pandemic and lockdown. It used Maslow’s hierarchy of need to show this.
This got me thinking of another useful diagram from Social Science days. Kübler Ross’s stages of grief.
A grief doesn’t always need to be as a result of a loss in the family or among our friend group. Grief can happen when someone you love walks out of your life, it can happen when abrupt changes happen at work and it certainly can occur when normal life is disrupted by a pandemic and government measures. There is a lot of arguments on social media and in the media at large around the topic of both the pandemic, the extent of it, and about the need or lack of need for lockdowns or restrictions. Watching all this going on we can observe not only that everyone has different opinions, but that not everyone is at the same stage of grief. An extreme example is someone interested in conspiracy theories (including both those for or those against lockdown etc) with no foundation or evidence may be considered perhaps as someone in denial. Someone who continues in that phase may be in deep denial. I’ve long argued that the stages of grief don’t always come in the same order for everyone. For me personally it is all over the place. One thing that we need to realise for ourselves is that this is a grief so we need to be gentle with ourselves. We also may be at a different stage of grief or transitioning in a different order than others. Therefore let us be gentle and kind with each other.
For people of Faith here is some bible verses for overcoming grief. Context is important of course, but these verses may be useful when used well for you in your personal walk.