This includes things like systemic and incurable diseases, birth defects, and loss of mobility or speech due to stroke. As we come to the end of this part of our discussion, we need to make one point very clear. No matter what loss you have experienced, the pain is real. We must not minimize the loss we have had because we think others have suffered more severe loss. All loss should be taken seriously.
All loss calls for appropriate measures leading to assimilation and accommodation.
Reactions to Loss Early authors on the topic of grief maintained that grief is a series of steps or stages. This angered many grieving persons because they felt that they were being squeezed into the same mold. The stage theory disregarded their uniqueness as persons. One author insisted that if a person missed one of the stages, he or she would have to begin all over again. It is little wonder that support group leaders met with resistance.