The five stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.

It's important to note that the stages of grief are not linear and can occur in any order. Additionally, people often go through each stage more than once and may reoccur at different times in their lives.

When someone has suffered a loss, there are many stages that they go through. Although these can be different for each person, they tend to follow a general pattern. The first stage of grief is denial, and the last one is acceptance. There are also other stages between these two extremes that can be difficult or even painful for someone grieving.

• Denial: This stage can be short or long, depending on the person and situation. People first feel numb and disconnected from their feelings and surroundings when in denial. They may try to ignore or forget about the loss, or they may pretend that nothing has happened even though, deep down, something has changed forever in their lives.

• Anger: Anger is a common response after experiencing a loss because people often feel betrayed by fate or angry at God for what happened (or didn't happen). It's natural for this emotion to come up during grief—you want answers! But remember: You're not alone—there are other people who are going through similar experiences right now as well as those who have been through it before you!

• Bargaining: To survive painful losses like death, we often bargain with ourselves or others (especially God) to undo what has happened by promising ourselves things that would never happen.

The first stage is denial, which can include refusing to believe the news or thinking it is a bad dream. A person going through this stage might say things like, "This isn't happening," or "It's not real." Denial is followed by anger, where you feel unbridled rage toward whatever has caused your loved one's death. You might lash out or even yourself for being unable to prevent this loss from occurring, but it is important to keep in mind that these emotions are valid and normal under these circumstances; however, they should never be directed at yourself or someone else who lost a loved one as well because they're just trying to cope with their own loss as best they can!

The third stage comes when you begin bargaining with God (or anyone else who might listen) for another chance at life so your loved one doesn't have to die after all; this usually involves making promises about what kind of behavior you'll engage in if given another opportunity at existence.

The fourth stage involves depression, where all hope seems lost about ever getting better again. This period could last anywhere from days up until several months, depending on how much tragedy had already taken place within those particular lives.

The last stage of grief, acceptance, doesn't mean you like what happened or that it doesn't hurt anymore. It just means that you realize there isn't anything you can do to change the past.

At the end of a long journey, you reach acceptance. This is where you finally come to terms with what happened and learn to accept it as part of your life. But this doesn't mean that you like what happened or that it doesn't hurt anymore. It just means that you realize there isn't anything you can do to change the past (and even if there were, it would be impossible).

Acceptance means being able to move on in some way, even though hurting will always be a part of your life, and being sad about losing someone important is natural. Acceptance also means discussing your loved one's death with others experiencing similar feelings. Having support from others who understand how difficult this process is can help people find comfort when grieving.

Depression is another very difficult stage of grief because it's not always easy to recognize right away, and when people do realize it has set in, they don't always want to admit it to themselves or others.

Depression is another common and difficult stage of grief because it's not always easy to recognize right away, and when people do realize it has set in, they don't always want to admit it to themselves or others. Depression can be treated with medication and therapy, so if you think this might be what's going on for you, don't hesitate to seek help.

There are many other reasons why you might experience depression during grief. You may feel like your life is over when someone close to you dies, especially your child.  Your emotions may be completely out of whack due to all the changes happening at once--you're grieving while trying to keep moving forward without them in your daily life; everything feels different without them there beside you; There can be guilt or shame when you realize that some things are actually easier than before because there may now be certain responsibilities you know longer have after the death of your loved one. This is a secondary loss that you may also have to grieve.

 Acceptance is probably the second hardest stage for many people because accepting the loss means it's real and that there won't be any more chances to make things right again.

That doesn't mean you like what happened or that it doesn't hurt anymore; it just means that you understand that you can't change what happened. Your choices are:

• You can try to forget about your loss or just put up with it, but this will likely result in sadness returning later on down the road

• You can try to hold onto some sense of hope that maybe someday things will be easier.  They may never return to “normal” as you knew before, but they will also be as hard as they are now. 

There isn't just one hardest stage.

You may have heard of the "stages of grief." These are a part of the Kubler-Ross model, which was first published in 1969 in relation to death but is also related to going through grief. The stages can be helpful in understanding what to expect when you're grieving. But it's important to know that each person will experience these stages differently, sometimes in different orders and sometimes skipping one or more altogether.

For example, some people may go through depression before moving on to denial or anger (although most people experience these three after experiencing guilt). Others may never experience guilt at all but find themselves stuck in a loop between depression and acceptance — and there's no right or wrong way for your grief journey to unfold.

In recent years, there has been discussion of one more stage of grief that many of us at Red Bird find important: meaning. When enough time passes, many of us find that the Lord has used our grief to bring something beautiful to live in our hearts, healing, or community – something that could never have existed if our child had not died.  While this fruit or ministry or book or healing never takes away our grief, it does allow us to feel grateful that God never abandoned us in our suffering.  He used our tears to water a beautiful garden of hope and purpose that can help other grieving mothers and fathers carry their losses. 

I hope this helps you understand some of what your friend is going through and how best to support them during these difficult times.