Why don't people talk about bereavement, is it still a taboo subject?

I don't think its seen as a taboo subject, but more of an emotive one. It's one of the few subjects that everybody goes through at some time or another and a lot of people don't feel comfortable pouring their hearts out about it.

I don't know what country you live in, but in the USA where I live we talk about death or the euphemism bereavement.

I think for a lot of people, it is a taboo subject.

The saddest thing about that is that being able to talk about your grief really helps in the healing process.

I think what happens is that the bereaved get emotional, which is quite natural, and people don't know how to respond to that. We have so many ready answers in the world today, and so many quick fixes for things. When we see someone in great pain, we want to either fix it, or not see it anymore because we don't know what to do about it. People who are bereaved sense that discomfort, so they are afraid to talk to others and make others uncomfortable by sharing their pain.

Grief is a lonely business. Believe me, I know that. People around you don't want to hear about your sadness, but sometimes you want to just shout and let it all out and have someone acknowledge it for what it is; a pain so awful it hurts to breathe, and which will only go away in time.

So yes, I think it would be great if we could all talk about it. After all, death is very natural in that it is the one thing we all experience, both as mourners, and at the end, as the one who leaves. But no one seems to want to talk about it.

Now we choose the term closure instead of bereavement. There are many fine groups that help people during this traumatic period of their lives. Sadly our tendency is to lean on others far more now than our elders did. They handled it better.

It's more of an emotional issue. If you are the bereaved, talking about the loss often leads to tears or choking up, which depending on the situation, may be embarrassing. If you are talking TO the bereaved, your concern is about upsetting the person.