Reaching the end of your marriage can feel like a shock at first. Even if the split is for the better and you saw it coming for a long time, the breakup still significantly impacts every aspect of your life. Emotionally handling a divorce is similar to how people handle grief when they lose someone they care about.
According to Healthline, the emotional phases you experience during a significant breakup are the stages of grief.
Denial and anger
A divorce completely changes your life. You and your spouse rely on each other for companionship, income and stability. However, when you reach the point of divorce, much of that does not matter anymore. Your former spouse may no longer feel like a companion or a stable choice. However, you do have to change your life. It is common for people to act like change is not on the horizon. You may try to deny it is happening or grow angry about the breakup.
You may feel some amount of resentment towards other couples or your spouse because you cannot make the relationship work. Keep in mind that anger is a normal emotion and will pass eventually.
Bargaining and depression
You may start to think about what you could have done differently in the relationship. If you made different choices, would the marriage work? Bargaining helps you postpone the final stages of grief. You do not have to experience sadness or depression if you continue bargaining. Depression shortly follows the bargaining stage. Depression sometimes comes with feelings of heaviness and fatigue. If you find it difficult to move past the depression stage, you may require help to discuss your decision.
Eventually, you accept the choice and recognize that the divorce is healthy for both of you.
