Over the past year, many of my friends have been struggling to make sense of recent events, including perceived attacks on democratic and other values globally, feeling bewildered, frustrated, and other complex and frequently contradictory emotions. Yet recognizing that we may be undergoing psychological processes of grief can help us cope and respond as effectively as possible.

In 1969, Elizabeth Kübler-Ross described five stages of grief that patients commonly undergo: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. These phases may not all occur, or they can appear in a different order or direction, or more than one at a time. We........

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