Emotions are running high after Tuesday’s election. I don't think I can forget the sight of being in my schools UC atrium surrounded by dozens of my fellow politics majors and many more curious students. I'll never forget the looks of despair that came over them as the night wore on, of once happy faces ready to welcome the first woman president, turned to shock and sadness as they saw their first Fascist one instead. The sight of my peers hugging one another as tears clouded their eyes is a sight that I think will forever haunt me. Ingrained in my mind are the many Facebook conversations I frantically engaged in that night. I will remember the flurry of messages between my mostly British teammates and myself as they brought up the specter of Brexit, which had occurred in a similar fashion to Trump’s victory. I will remember the horror a friend from high school and I expressed as we remembered a science-fiction book we had read about a Fascist America, A Song Called Youth, go from fiction to fact. A feat we consider all the more impressive considering it was written in the 1980s. I will remember the fear from my friend who wondered how he could serve in the Navy under this man and if his immigrant family members will be safe. In the service of helping to cope with this pervasive sense of grief and loss, I have created this guide to the stages of political grieving.

Stage One: Denial: Isolation/Communal

As the results came in from state after state many of us denied what was happening before our very eyes. Some of us sought to close off from the world in isolation, turning off our laptops, TVs, and cellphones. We sat in silence thinking over and over that this can’t be happening; it’s just a fluke. Others sought comfort in the embrace of a close friend or even a total stranger, doing whatever was necessary to block out what was happening. We denied what we knew in our hearts to be true because we couldn't accept the reality of what was.

Stage Two: Anger

Even as we sat denying what was happening on the screens before of us, a molten flow of deep seething anger boiled within us. As state after state was called for The Donald, our fury exploded. Some people called for riots and protests as their way to exorcise their internal rage. One person with my watch party had the incredible foresight to bring a Trump head piñata and let us take a few good whacks at it. The anger flowed in all directions, some to trump and the justifiable outrage he inspires with all his ignoble actions and behavior. Some went to the voters who did not turn out to support her. And finally some went to Hillary herself for letting us down when anyone else might have won.

Stage Three: Bargaining

From the moment the race seemed to turn Trump’s way that night, the many 'what if's' began to overtake us. We wondered what if a few thousand more votes had been or had not been cast? What if the FBI hadn't gotten involved so close to the election date? What if we hadn't voted third party? As the night wore on and grew darker ever more serious questions plagued our thoughts. What if Hillary hadn't been the candidate? What if it had been Bernie, or Biden, or Warren or literally anyone else? What if the media had spoken up more? What if republicans had grown a spine and denounced Trump? If only we had done more to campaign or help in any way? By the close of the election the questions had gone from what if's to full-blown soul searching. What if we hadn't abandoned progressivism? What if we had done “X” instead of “Y” in the last 40 years? And on and on the questions came that fateful night and the days after. One can only imagine the questioning taking place in the DNC and Clinton campaign headquarters right now.

Sage Four: Depression

Going back to my room that night I was struck by an overwhelming sense of emptiness and loss. Going to bed, dark thoughts invaded my mind as I tried desperately to go to sleep and forget about the election, at least for a few hours. The next morning, I just lay in bed not knowing what to do and very nervous about the future. I doubted I was the only one who felt this way. As I left the watch party I could see my feeling mirrored on many more faces. A scroll through Facebook confirmed that the feelings of depression were widespread. There is no telling when the fog of sadness and loss will lift. It could be a few days, a month, or a year or more, but at some point we must move to the fifth stage.

Stage Five: Resolve

Now anyone familiar with the real life stages of grief in psychology knows that the fifth stage is acceptance, but politics and psychology play by a different set of rules. To accept the unacceptable is the ultimate act of cowardice in politics and Trump meets every definition of unacceptable. We must pull ourselves out of our collective depression and resolve to oppose his hateful rhetoric in any way possible. It’s going to take a steely resolve and fierce determination to see out the next four years, but I believe we can do it. We cannot give Trump and his cronies the satisfaction of watching us break, of watching us cower before them. We must persevere to see that the ideals we believe in - diversity, social justice, and equality – survive. The rightness of our cause will give us the might to see it through. We shall resolve to take back our country and it starts with you the reader. Are you with us?