A brief talk by David Kessler addressing common questions about how long grieving should last. He emphasizes that societal pressure to 'move on' is misplaced and that grief timelines depend on the length and depth of the relationship; there is no fixed short period (e.g., one month) after which one should be 'over' a loss.
How long is considered too long to grieve?
We live in a productive society these days, and people want us to move on with our grief, recover from it quickly, be happy again. And I'm always amazed that people will ask me about their grief and say I'm just not getting over it. And I'll ask them, how long has it been since your loved one has died? And they'll say, three weeks or a month or six months. When you've loved and known someone for 25 years, for 10 years, for five years, you don't get over it in a month. So just know. While there may be pressure from friends, relatives, and society in general to get past it, do it in your own time, in your own way, in your own pace.
