ABSTRACT
Any change in life contains potential for both growth and loss. But it is common for this relationship not to be recognized, and so there are many happenings which are not discovered as either growth or loss, writes John Schneider in Stress, Loss and Grief. ‘Success depressions’ are relieved, however, by making room for recognition of the loss and thus room for a kind of grief work on the level that is necessary. That this is easier said than done is an almost essential rider to be added in a success-oriented society with an ideal of happiness in which even the more visible losses are not noticed. In developmental crises, or what are called ‘critical phases of life’, there is also grief work. Puberty, the menopause, old age are examples of three phases where it is plain that a person has to bid farewell to one kind of life and greet the arrival of another.
