After you lose your best friend, how do you know when grieving them starts?

Grieving begins when sadness is manifested in your body as the emotion itself and a reaction. Usually, people tend to cry, even though that doesn't mean everyone expresses sadness in the same way. From personal experience, I sometimes cried and I sometimes I didn't cry, it usually depends on how impactful is that loss for you. It's also natural to have a feeling of emptiness, void or even silence, representing that loss in your life that leaves a certain amount of space for the new realities that are bound to come. If you understand that grieving is just dealing with a process of change, you don't have to worry about how that will turn out to be. You are unique and your reaction can be unique, so don't feel like there's a wrong or right way to mourn your own loss. You just have to be there for yourself no matter what happens.

Immediately. There are 5 stages of grief- •Denial- Only lets in as much as we can handle, emotionally & mentally. You're in a state of shock; a state of disbelief and numb feelings. After the realization and acceptance of the denial of the loss, you begin to feel again, what you were denying. Pain. •Anger- A necessary, intense emotion which allows you to reconnect from the pain, emptiness and numbness. •Bargaining- Trying to exchange feelings of pain and thinking what you could or should have done differently Depression- Deep, empty feelings. You'll withdraw from normal, day to day life and isolate. It wouldn't be normal to not feel this after a great loss. Upward turn Acceptance- Reconstruction and working through. Learning to live a new reality without your loved one and learn to live with it.

Grieving has five stages: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance are a part of the framework that makes up our learning to live with the one we lost. They are tools to help us frame and identify what we may be feeling. But they are not stops on some linear timeline in grief. Grieving starts when you try to deny the reality of the passing of the friend. Sometimes people would ask, "Is it a joke? This is not real." You may ending up arguing with yourself or other people. When someone tries to confront you with facts, you may progress into anger. Or you may stay in denial for a while.

Grieving the loss of your best friend (or anyone else) starts when you lose them, regardless if you feel so in the moment loss occured (or you got information about loss of your best friend). In the first phase many of us deny that loss occured and so, people think that it isn't grief, but in fact, denial is first stage of grieving process and thus, denial (denying loss, denying emotional connectedness, denying anything related to the person you lost) itself is grief too as it is in many cases first phase of grieving process (but in fact there are also people who never go through denial phase but can experience other phases, not listed in manuals - but also it is grieving process, albeit not described in books or websites as typical).

From personal experience, I didn't learn about a friend's death till the next day. It took a few days to process the fact that she was gone before I started grieving. For others, they began mourning her when she was put into hospice care. It's different for everyone, but it gets easier and you will be happy again. The first point that I notice the most is denial. You can't accept the fact that they are gone, and it's 100% okay. Another piece is guilt. Survivor's guilt is extremely effective on a person. I took weeks to get over my survivor's guilt, and I still experience it. It's natural. Keep their memory alive, honor them, live out their ambitions. Keep their personality alive. It gets easier with every day. Let them be your driving force to go after your dreams and goals in life. I know she's mine.

For me, when losing somebody (can be break up or worse) I often just feel nothing for the first few days. It feels numb, you dont know what time it is and everything feels weird, as if you wouldnt feel anything at all, not good but also not bad. Then after 2 or 3 days, emotions hit me hard. The good and the bad ones! Both is just overly present, I cry a lot and am very confused. My heart and my mind are in constant fight, because I know whats going on but, why does it feel that way?

It is different for different people. So it is really hard to say. Some grieve when they get the news. Some do not grieve right away. Some are in shock,so they will grieve after the shock goes away. Some start to grieve at the wake. Some start to grieve at the Church Service for them. Some never grieve. Some grieve so much so,that it starts to affect those around them. It is all different. It depends on a number of factors. It also depends on how long you knew the person. It also depends on how close you were, for example, did they work together at the same place. I hope this helps,some. I am so very sorry for your lose.

For me when I lost my best friend grieving started from the moment they left. Why? because they were the only person who cared about me in a way which I felt comfortable telling them everything that was happening in my life weather it was school related or home related. I felt like I lived two lives a school life and a home life. They knew everything even all times when I wanted to curl up in a ball and just cry for hours upon hours but yet they managed to cheer me every single time. Losing them felt like I had lost everything.

I am sorry for your loss. It varies in each case, I think. There's no exact timing for this. Some feel it immediately, some are more in shock and the grieve only actually kicks in latter on. Either is fine. It is a process that you need to go through and again, everyone is different. Losing someone you care about is always terrible, but time will help you. His/her memory will live through you and other people who love him/her. And with time, you'll be okay again. You'll probably be sad again whenever you remember, but it is normal.

Grieving is different for everyone, some may start by being in denial, and for others all the reality and emotions of what happened can hit instantly. Sometimes people also just shut down after learning about a loss and need to be alone. I always recommend to reach out to someone close to you to talk about it. Grief is what happens when experiencing a loss, whether it be a pet, family, friend, or even celebrity, everyone deals with grief in different ways. Grief is a good thing, you’re accepting what happened and you’re able to react appropriately. Losing someone is hard and difficult to deal with, but remember you always have people to help you through your hard times, even here on 7cups.