Misconceptions About Grief

There are several common myths about grief:

• All losses of loved ones are the same.

• All parents grieve in the same way.

• Grief steadily declines over time.

• Infant death should not be difficult because you did not know the baby well.

• Children need to be protected from grief and death.

• Couples who experience the death of a child have a higher incidence of divorce.

• It is not important to have social support in your grief.

• It takes two months to get over grief.

• Children grieve like adults.

• Parents only feel crazy if they are going crazy.

• The intensity and length of your grief are testimony to your love for the deceased.

• Bereaved parents do not have a relationship with the deceased baby after the death.