Grieving the Loss of Someone You Didn't Like

There’s a term in grief support called “disenfranchised grief.” It means that your grief experience isn’t accepted or doesn’t fit in with the greater societal attitudes about how a death related loss is handled.  In essence, disenfranchised grief stops you from feeling fully supported. When you don’t feel supported, the emotional pain progresses and you can feel more isolated and lonely. One aspect of disenfranchised grief is that of losing someone you didn’t like. Whether permanent or situational to the time of their death, it’s still disenfranchised.  You’re less likely to get grief support when you grieve someone you didn’t like or for something (a type of relationship) you never had.  On this episode of the Grief Refuge podcast, my guest Carol Schoneberg shares her perspective on the ways disenfranchised grief makes the process more difficult. Carol has grief counseled for over 30 years and continues to love her work each day. If you’ve felt lonely or isolated in your grief journey, perhaps your grief is being disenfranchised.  Please listen to our conversation for more support and deeper understanding. If you need more support for your grief journey, download the Grief Refuge app for daily comfort, care, and compassionate inspiration to help manage grief (on iOS and Android).