Grieving Is Not A Straightforward Press | Teachers College Columbia University

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Grieving Is Not A Straightforward Press

Grieving used to be seen as a straightforward process: you cried at the funeral, were sad for a few months, then you had some "closure" and got on with your life.
Grieving used to be seen as a straightforward process: you cried at the funeral, were sad for a few months, then you had some "closure" and got on with your life.

But newer research has shown that there is no single way to grieve.

"The idea that grief is necessarily a debilitating experience is not true. We cope much better than our social expectations say we will," says psychologist George Bonanno of Columbia University Teachers College, who has shown that among a group of "normal, everyday people" only about half will get depressed at any point during their grieving process.

This article, written by Judy Foreman, appeared in the May 16th, 2005 publication of Business Day.

Published Friday, May. 19, 2006

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