A Guide to Computer Applications in the Humanities

by Professor Susan Hockey

Death is part of the natural progression of life; it comes to all people in time and touches most people many times. Yet, we have little training in how to deal with the death of others or our own impending death, so we are frightened or angry, or take refuge in ignoring the whole question. Stages of Sorrow treats death as a natural event, to be considered as any other foreseeable occasion in a life. The book describes all facets of sorrow arising from the death of a loved one with sensitivity, sympathy and reassurance. It is an aid to understanding the experience of grief, discussing the initial shock, the conflicting emotions of grief, anger, guilt and relief, intermediate stages, and finally recovery and the resumption of a normal, though changed, life. Included in the book are discussions of special circumstances such as death through suicide, murder, or abortion; the death of children; grief for a loved animal, and animals' grief; psychic phenomena involving both the dying and the bereaved; and daily indications of death. The connected traumas of death and bereavement can be far less shattering, the author contends, through acceptance of the processes of grief. Stages of Sorrow provides a guide to this acceptance.

248 pages, Paperback

Published February 1, 1983