
18/07/2025
Coping with Separation and Divorce Part 2
Here’s more on the stages of divorce
Stage 1 - The world seems to have come to an end
Anxiety
Going through a divorce is a sapping journey. Divorce process entails anxiety. Anxious feelings may be accompanied by disturbances of sleep or appetite patterns. Irrespective of the question, how long does it take to get over a divorce, you have to learn coping mechanisms to keep anxiety at bay. Anxiety is corrosive and makes getting over divorce all the more tumultuous.
Depression
Decrease in food intake and increase in time spent sleeping are probably related to depression. Both anxiety and depression are indications of separation shock and commonly experienced during stages of divorce. Often during this time the individuals will report that they are unable to concentrate on work activities or carry on conversations with people. They may experience sudden outbursts of tears or anger.
Rage
Other people report that they often lose control of their anger and, for what later seems to them to be an insignificant reason, explode into sudden flashes of rage.
Numbness
Many people experience feelings of numbness or the absence of feelings trying to navigate unknown stages of divorce. Numbness is a way of muting or denying feelings, which, if experienced, might be too overwhelming for the individual to handle.
Emotional vacillation
Often during Stage 1, a person vacillates between these emotions - feeling first anxious, then angry, and then numb. For many, these emotions are often combined with feelings of optimism about their new lives. This stage of separation shock can last anywhere from a few days to several months.
Guilt and Anger
Often one partner wants the divorce more than the other. The person who leaves is often burdened with enormous amounts of guilt and self-blame, whereas the remaining partner potentially feels more anger, hurt, self-pity, and condemnation of the other. Both individuals suffer during one of the many such stages of divorce.
Coming to Grips with the Marriage Ending
The principal problem of Stage 1 for many people involves coming to grips with the fact that the marriage is ending. The emotional task of the person at this stage of the divorcing process is to accept the reality of the separation.
What things do you think would help an individual going through stage 1 of the divorce? Feel free to put your answers to this question in the comments section.
We'll continue with the stage 2 in the coming days.