Glossary / Lexicon

Phases in mourning describes mourning as a series of phases; the Bowlby/ Parkes model proposed four phases (shock and numbness; yearning and searching; disorganization and despair; reorganization); other writers have proposed three phases (shock, a period of intense or active grieving, and reestablishment of physical and mental balance, in one version; avoidance, confrontation, and accommodation, in another version) or a larger number of phases. It is one of the interpretations or theories of mourning.