Grief and loss, like death, are irrevocably part of human life. It is something even children experienced in a greater or lesser form, whether through the death of a pet, a family member, or changes such as divorce or relocation. Because no person is exempt from this often devastating truth, it is essential to develop strategies to help cope with grief. The best way to accomplish this is to study the phenomenon and how it manifests itself in different age, ethnic, cultural and gender groups. Once such an understanding is reached, targeted strategies can be developed to help specific persons handle the grief and loss in their lives.
             As mentioned above, loss manifests itself in a number of ways, each with its concomitant intensity and devastation. According to Linda Saxon Nix, the result is almost always grief to a greater or lesser extent. Because loss is never planned, the ensuing feelings of grief are experienced as devastating and overwhelming. The person in the grief process tends to find the emotion and sense of loss overwhelming, because he or she was not prepared for it. This is particularly the case if the person has never experienced grief or loss before.
             The first important thing regarding grief, according to Nix, is the fact that grieving is a necessary and natural process after loss. Loss can only be properly handled if the grieving process is acknowledged and experienced for the necessity it is. Nix warns that an attempt to suppress grief could have negative long-term effects, in some cases even lasting a lifetime. On the other hand, a further danger is becoming almost addicted to the grief. This is also dangerous, life-altering behavior. A person who wallows in his or grief for an overly long period of time never learns to move forward.
             For these reasons, it is necessary not only to be aware of the importance of the grieving process, but also that the process itself should be neither suppressed nor a...