Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas partners with Lucet to provide behavioral health screenings, resources and support to our members and employees.
After a loss, it’s not uncommon for people to experience grief. Grief commonly occurs in five stages. Experiencing one or more of these stages can provide you the comfort and peace of mind that you are moving forward in a positive direction and coping with the loss you have experienced.
Stage 1: Denial
During denial, it’s hard for you to believe that the loss has happened. You may often feel numb and in a haze. This innate coping mechanism occurs as a survival mechanism. The shock and pain of loss is often too hurtful to take in all at one time.
Stage 2: Anger
In the second stage, you become frustrated by the fact that you’re vulnerable, that you have no control over what’s happened, and you begin to look for the events and people that you can blame.
Stage 3: Bargaining
During this stage you often fall into “if” statements, such as “What if I had done this?” You want to bargain with your life to try and get back what you used to have, change what happened, or even try to replace the pain with something else.
Stage 4: Depression
In the fourth stage, depression sets in. You can begin to feel overwhelmed by the situation and hopeless about the future. You may withdraw from your life and feel as if there is no reason to go on.
Stage 5: Acceptance
The fifth and final stage is related to acceptance. You’re finally able to accept the reality of what’s happened and begin to look for avenues to move on. It’s important that during this stage you accept how this loss has changed your life and stop wishing for everything to go back to how it used to be.
Help for Kansans
1 in 4 Kansans experience mental illness every year. If you or someone you care about are in need of help and support, find resources on our website or consider the following 24/7 resources:
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration (SAMSHA) National Helpline: 800-662-HELP (4357)
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: Call 988 or Text 988
Crisis Text Line: Text “HELLO” to 741741