When someone who we are close to and love dearly dies we experience strong feelings of bereavement and potential depression over their death. Feelings of a loss can occur not only after the death but a long while after events. The people who we have lost and with whom we had different emotional attachments will have different effects on our feelings and emotions. We may go through different stages: numbness, pining, anger, guilt and depression.

Numbness: For a period after a loss we can be in shock and lose the ability to think or function like our usual self. Our connection with the world is partially severed as we cacoon ourselves away from the world to try and cope with the loss that has occurred.

Pinning: The grief we suffer doesn't allow us to get round the fact that the person who played an important part in our lives is no longer here. We start to think that if we wish enough that this person will re-appear.

Anger: We start to feel isolated and anger towards specific aspects of life or people. You could get angry at yourself or show anger towards specific people who may have had a major effect on the loss of the individual.

Gullit: We then feel guilty that we did not do enough. Perhaps we could have prevented their death. Or we could have done, said something, to make their last moments more bearable. Apologise for the things we did or said, that were wrong.

Depression: All of the above feelings can lead to depression and make our lives a misery that is why it is important to seek counselling to help you overcome your feelings of bereavement.