How we are as individuals, our own personality and life experiences have a significant bearing on how we respond to loss in our lives.

How we learned to deal with loss in the family in which we grew up, our culture and beliefs will all impact on the way we grieve.

Other significant factors are:

• Our physical and mental health eg drug or alcohol dependency, depression
• Our previous experience of past losses, including early separations and not receiving the kind of mothering we needed, and any unresolved grief
• Whether this is the first loss or the latest in a succession of losses
• Our ability to share painful and difficult feelings with others (we may have grown up feeling that certain emotions were unacceptable)
• Our ability to be self-aware (how we think and feel will impact on our relationships with others after a bereavement)
• Our culture and spirituality