He has neither interest nor strength for anything else. He cannot approach others, even when he has an urgent need to do so, precisely because the warmth of others could hinder him from completely losing faith in life. This happens in our society because we lack a ritualized mourning process, such as still exists, for example, among practicing Jews. In his troubles the mourner distances himself still further and soon experiences the world that he is no longer capable of dealing with as hostile. In this way, a circle of isolation, fear and estrangement from the environment may set in, in which a new attitude toward life can be built up only with difficulty if at all.
Paranoid reactions can set in.
The mourner no longer understands the world, and often he does not understand fate any more either. In such a situation the stock answers that are offered sound like mockery to the ears of the grieving person and are not much help. It is part of the mourning process to endure this meaninglessness and go on living nevertheless, be it in the hope that meaning will show itself once again, or in remembrance that life was once filled with meaning. Alternatively one can live on courageously in complete doubt as to meaning, existence, God, the human being, or at the very least rendered uncertain by the price that one must pay for the loss of a human bond, and deeply uncertain whether one is ready to pay this price ever again. His response to life has altered.