People say this ‘ball in a box’ analogy perfectly explains how grief feels

A viral thread explaining how grief feels has resurfaced.

Lauren Herschel shared an analogy she learned from her doctor which helps people express how feelings change over time.

Everyone experiences grief in different ways and it is rarely linear, with painful emotions often returning at unexpected times.

Herschel’s doctor showed her the “ball in a box” analogy to help her to understand how grief can be triggered at random moments.

She decided to share the tip with her Twitter followers.

The analogy suggests grief is like a box with a ball in it and a pain button on one side.

In the early stages, the ball is big and will frequently hit the pain box – sometimes so much that it can feel like you can’t stop it.

But as time goes on, the ball gets smaller.

It doesn’t disappear completely and when it hits the pain button, it’s just as intense, but generally, it is easier to get through each day.

When she explained the analogy to her stepdad, he started using it to talk about his feelings.

And other people thought the idea perfectly explained how they felt and thanked Lauren for sharing it.

Even though it’s been a while since the post was first shared, the “ball in a box” analogy is still helping new people.

Everyone has to experience grief at some point in their life and the 'ball in a box' is a simple way to make it a little bit easier to talk about.

HT: Someecards

More: P!NK stopped her show halfway through to console a grieving fan who had just lost her mum