What to Know About the Anger Stage of Grief

Table of ContentsView AllTable of Contents5 Stages of GriefAnger StageCoping TipsNext in The Stages of Grief GuideWhat Is the Bargaining Stage of Grief?

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

5 Stages of Grief

Anger Stage

Coping Tips

Next in The Stages of Grief Guide

While people generally associate grief with sadness, anger is also a common reaction to grief.Someone who haslost a loved onemay wonder why the loss happened and be angry at themselves, the world, the person who passed, or the circumstances.

Apart from the loss of a loved one, grief and anger may also be experienced at the loss of other things that were meaningful to the person, such as a lost relationship, job, or anything that ties to their identity, saysAngeleena Francis, LMHC, Executive Director at AMFM Healthcare.

Here we explore anger as one of the five stages of grief. We also discuss the forms that anger may take and provide a few coping strategies that can be helpful for people who feel “stuck” in the anger stage of grief.

Overview of the Five Stages of Grief

In her 1969 book “On Death and Dying,” psychiatrist Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross proposed that there arefive stages of grief.Francis explains that the five stages of grief listed in the theory are:

It’s important to note that recent research shows that grief isn’t necessarily as linear or as neatly organized as this theory suggests.Everyone’s experience of grief is different because everyone reacts to loss differently.

Francis explains that the current understanding of this theory is that the stages are not unidirectional. You may experience grief in any order of stages, jump stages, or even repeat stages.

Characteristics of the Anger Stage of Grief

Emotions

Some of the emotions that a person may experience during the anger stage of grief include:

Thoughts

These are some examples of thoughts a person may have during the anger stage of grief, according to Francis:

Behaviors

Francis also indicates that someone experiencing anger in the wake of a loss may be prone to:

Understanding Anger

Coping With the Anger Stage of Grief

Francis shares several strategies that can help a person cope with the anger stage of grief. They include:

11 Anger Management Strategies to Help You Calm Down

Summary

While grieving a loss, particularly if it was an unexpected one, we might find ourselves feeling extremely angry. Anger is a defense mechanism that helps us feel in control and avoid our helplessness and grief. However, it’s important to become more aware of our feelings and their underlying causes tocope with angerand come closer to accepting the loss, says Francis.

6 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Hospice Foundation of America.Anger and grief.American Psychological Association.Stages of grief.Dictionary of Psychology.Stroebe M, Schut H, Boerner K.Cautioning healthcare professionals: Bereaved persons are misguided through the stages of grief.Omega (Westport). 2017;74(4):455-473. doi:10.1177/0030222817691870O’Connor MF.Grief: A brief history of research on how the body, mind, and brain adapt.Psychosom Med. 2019;81(8):731-738. doi:10.1097/PSY.0000000000000717University of Colorado Boulder, Office of Victim Assistance.The five stages of grief.Harvard Health Publishing.Coping with anger while grieving.

6 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Hospice Foundation of America.Anger and grief.American Psychological Association.Stages of grief.Dictionary of Psychology.Stroebe M, Schut H, Boerner K.Cautioning healthcare professionals: Bereaved persons are misguided through the stages of grief.Omega (Westport). 2017;74(4):455-473. doi:10.1177/0030222817691870O’Connor MF.Grief: A brief history of research on how the body, mind, and brain adapt.Psychosom Med. 2019;81(8):731-738. doi:10.1097/PSY.0000000000000717University of Colorado Boulder, Office of Victim Assistance.The five stages of grief.Harvard Health Publishing.Coping with anger while grieving.

Hospice Foundation of America.Anger and grief.American Psychological Association.Stages of grief.Dictionary of Psychology.Stroebe M, Schut H, Boerner K.Cautioning healthcare professionals: Bereaved persons are misguided through the stages of grief.Omega (Westport). 2017;74(4):455-473. doi:10.1177/0030222817691870O’Connor MF.Grief: A brief history of research on how the body, mind, and brain adapt.Psychosom Med. 2019;81(8):731-738. doi:10.1097/PSY.0000000000000717University of Colorado Boulder, Office of Victim Assistance.The five stages of grief.Harvard Health Publishing.Coping with anger while grieving.

Hospice Foundation of America.Anger and grief.

American Psychological Association.Stages of grief.Dictionary of Psychology.

Stroebe M, Schut H, Boerner K.Cautioning healthcare professionals: Bereaved persons are misguided through the stages of grief.Omega (Westport). 2017;74(4):455-473. doi:10.1177/0030222817691870

O’Connor MF.Grief: A brief history of research on how the body, mind, and brain adapt.Psychosom Med. 2019;81(8):731-738. doi:10.1097/PSY.0000000000000717

University of Colorado Boulder, Office of Victim Assistance.The five stages of grief.

Harvard Health Publishing.Coping with anger while grieving.

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Overview of the Five Stages of Grief#

Characteristics of the Anger Stage of Grief#

Emotions#

Thoughts#

Behaviors#

Coping With the Anger Stage of Grief#

Summary#