There is no straightforward answer to this as everyone experiences grief and mourning differently. Coming to terms with someone's death is a gradual process but eventually you will start to move on and make plans for the future. For most people, it takes between one and two years to get over the death of someone close to them.

Coming to terms with the death of someone close to you is something that everyone experiences differently. Mourning the loss of someone is a gradual process and it takes time. Some people feel able to move on after a few months, for others this process takes years. It's unlikely that you will wake up one day and find that you have stopped grieving; you are more likely to find that you have good days and bad days - good days when you feel you are moving on and are over the worst and bad days when the grief still feels unbearable.

Eventually you should find that you aren't constantly thinking about the person who has died. When you do think about them you might remember happy times with them as well as feeling sadness. You will also start to make plans for the future. However, sometimes your circumstances can make it harder for you to move on and mean that your grief might take longer to work through. You may find it takes longer to get over the death of a loved one if:

* you didn't go to the funeral or there wasn't one
* you have no support from family, friends or spiritual beliefs
* you have unresolved issues with the person who died
* the death was caused by a particularly difficult event such as an unsolved murder
* the person is missing and it isn't clear exactly what happened, for example after a natural disaster
* you can't go to the funeral or there isn't one, for example if you live far away or aren't acknowledged by family and friends

If you don't feel as if you are moving on and getting better after a couple of years, then see your doctor for help and advice.