Analysis Of The 7 Stages Of Grief

The 7 stages of grief is a process that the majority of us will experience in our life whether we realize it or not. Grief is our normal response when we lose someone in out life with who we bonded strongly with. The process can be long and involves many feelings such as shock and denial; pain and guilt; anger and bargaining; depression, reflection and loneliness; the upward turn, reconstruction and working through; and finally acceptance and hope. The feelings don 't necessarily have to be in that order but is it likely that a person grieving will experience most if not all of those feelings. In Cheryl Strayed’s memoir “Wild From Lost To Found On The Pacific Crest Trail’ she tells the riveting story of her life and her adventures on the “Pacific

Her denial becomes apparent to the reader when she says “People like my mother did not get cancer. The tests at the Mayo Clinic would prove that, refuting what the doctors in Duluth had said. I was certain of this.” (Strayed 10). She is refusing to acknowledge the situation that is currently happening to her, despite previous doctors saying she was ill, She also says things such as “But she’s not a smoker” (Strayed 11). She 's trying to convince herself and even her mothers doctor that her mother can 't be sick and that whats happening can’t possibly be real so she can defend herself from the brutal reality that is occurring. Her issue with denial also arises in other areas as well and not just with her moms sickness. Strayed in the beginning of her memoir paints her mother as this beautiful picture always pointing out all of her good characteristics. Yet it is revealed later in the memoir that her mother had many issues such as marijuana use, negligence of her children amongst other things. Strayed for most of the memoir seems to ignore these parental failures but in order for her to eventually reach some sort of acceptance she 's going to have to acknowledge the shortcomings of her

The state of depression she experiences lasts for a substantially long time, in this time she turned to multiple sexual relationships and then hard drugs to try and attempt to make herself feel better again. Her sexual escapades reached its climax when she had sex with three men in five days. She did this while at the time having a husband, since she’s married her actions are extremely questionable even if she is in a state of depression, She try to explain her actions by saying “I was trying to heal. Trying to get the bad out of my system so I could be good again.” (Strayed, 36) She knows what she did was wrong but she felt so innerly turmoiled that she felt the need to find a release from the constant depression she was in. In the midst of the emotional storm she was feeling sex provided her with a way to escape herself and her emotions. Why she did this with men other than husband could be the result of a lot things she was feeling at the moment. When in severe depression people tend to do anything they can to feel better regardless of consequences they’re in such a awful state of mind already they feel that their sadness can’t get worse than what it already is. This can also be related to her use of heroine, she used heroine because she thought it would make her feel well again. Heroin is a destructive drug that takes the user away from reality, this is why Strayed did heroin to escape the