As many of us have heard, Zayn Malik, 22-year-old ex-One Direction (1D) band member, left the world famous band on May 25. He previously stated he would be leaving the band’s latest tour and in a later interview announced that he would be leaving the band altogether to become “a normal 22-year-old.” In the meantime, One Direction is currently on tour in South Africa, continuing their worldwide tour On the Road Again as a four-man band.

“I believe that Zayn shouldn’t have just left because he’s part of a very famous band–especially among girls. He shouldn’t have left mid-tour,” freshman Carlos Calvo said.

Many times after the loss of a friend or someone important, one usually experiences five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Check out how the following steps can apply to you in regards to this recent tragedy.

Denial: Everyone goes through denial at some point during a disaster. Denial is when you deny or refuse to believe something that has happened, or something that is happening. It is a natural response in order to ease the first blow of pain, or at least postpone it. A way for Directioners to move on from this step is to simply take a break alone for a while (much like Zayn did) and calmly recite what has happened a few times in their head to recognize what’s going on.

Anger: Anger — it is something that really does not need to be explained. Many 1D fans are mad at Zayn still, even after almost a week of this news sinking in, and this is totally understandable. All it takes to move onto the road to acceptance is a six letter word everyone loves and needs: B-R-E-A-T-H-E. Breathing helps you calm down, and when a person finally calms down, he or she can now simply progress.

Bargaining: Along with anger, some people may begin bargaining things for Zayn to come back to the band. A few days after Zayn announced he was taking a “break” from the band, many fans created the hashtag “#CutForZayn” on Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr, posting pictures of them mutilating themselves in hope for his return to the band. This trend is silly, extreme and unnecessary. It was his choice to leave the band, and there is no reason anyone should hurt themselves for it. Now, a way to safely get over this stage is to acknowledge the bright side of things — Zayn is not leaving the music industry forever. Zayn may have left 1D, but on Mar. 31, he released a new single called “I Won’t Mind” and is still making music with producer Naughty Boy.

“I’m so sad about [Zayn leaving One Direction]. I mean, he promised the fans he would never leave and yet he [did], regardless. The past five years have been amazing and I’ll always support him [when] he goes solo; I still love him either way,” junior Emily Hernandez said.

Depression: The fourth stage of grieving is depression. This stage is possibly the hardest to move on from, but it is the last one you need to conquer before reaching acceptance. Stay focused and make small goals to gradually get over Zayn.

Acceptance: Finally, after all this emotional turmoil, you’ve reached acceptance. You accept the fact that Zayn is gone and smile, realizing he is in a happier, more suitable place.