Cumulative Grief

Experiencing multiple losses one after another can exacerbate the challenges of processing grief, producing feelings over overwhelm, exhaustion and burnout. While most commonly applied in reference to the deaths of multiple loved ones, cumulative grief can also be brought on by other types of loss, such as the loss of a relationship, a job, your home or estrangement from family.

On top of the overload of emotional distress and practical stressors, dealing with multiple losses may mean your support system is less engaged or equipped to support you. This is especially true when dealing with losses within the Queer Community, where a whole support system may be grieving at once.

Cumulative grief can combine with concepts like "minority stress" to negatively impact the mental health of historically marginalised communities.

See: Minority Stress