Denial is considered the first stage of trauma and grief because it’s a type of defense mechanism. It helps to reduce the impact of what you’ve experienced so that you might have more time to evaluate what happened to you when you might be more ready to do so. The initial blow can be devastating, and our brains do what they can to protect us.

While denial is a protective measure, it won’t last forever. As much as we want to ignore what happened to us, eventually we will need to face the new reality.