Coping with Loss, Grieving and Death

Question 1

Loss

Answer 1

situation where a valued object, person or the like is no longer perceived as valuable

Question 2

Bereavement

Answer 2

subjective response to a loss through the death of a person with whom there has been a significant relationship

Question 3

Grief

Answer 3

the response to the emotional experience of the loss and is manifested in thoughts, feelings, and behavior

Question 4

Mourning

Answer 4

the behavioral process through which grief is resolved, often influenced by culture and custom

Question 5

Infants and toddlers (0-2 years)

Answer 5

-probably don’t understand that someone is dead or has died

Question 6

3 to 4 years

Answer 6

• does not understand concept of death

- believes death is reversible, a temporary departure or sleep

Question 7

5-9 years

Answer 7

• understands death is final
• believes own death can be avoided
• associates death with aggression or violence

Question 8

9-12 years

Answer 8

• understands death as the inevitable end of life

- begins to understand own mortality

Question 9

12-18 years

Answer 9

• fears of lingering death
• may fantasize that death can be defied, acting out, defiance through reckless behavior
• views death in religious and philosophic terms (afterlife, reincarnation, etc.)

Question 10

18-45 years

Answer 10

• has increased attitude / awareness towards death that is influenced by religious and cultural beliefs

Question 11

45-65 years

Answer 11

• accepts own mortality
• encounters death of parents and some peers
• experiences peak of death anxiety

Question 12

65 years above

Answer 12

• fears prolonged illness
• encounters death of family members and peers
• sees death as having multiple meanings (freedom from pain, reunion with already deceased family members)

Question 13

Religious beliefs and practices

Answer 13

• mourning for 9 days
• vigils
• last rites: sacraments
• baptism before death
• rosary through the day
• wakes

Question 14

Religious symbolism:

Answer 14

• the cross
• images of saints
• the rosary
• wearing black or white

Question 15

Kubler-Ross Stages of Grieving

Answer 15

1. Denial
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance

Question 16

Denial

Answer 16

• refuses to believe that loss is happening
• unreadiness to deal with practical problems
• may assume artificial cheerfulness

Question 17

Anger

Answer 17

• client or family may direct anger at a nurse or hospital about matters that normally would not bother them

Question 18

Bargaining

Answer 18

• seeks to bargain and avoid loss

- may express feeling of guilt or fear of punishment for past sins, real or imagined

Question 19

Depression

Answer 19

• grieves over what has happened and what cannot be

- may talk freely or may withdraw

Question 20

Acceptance

Answer 20

• comes to terms with loss
• may have a decreased interest in surroundings and support persons
• may wish to begin making plans

Question 21

Martocchio’s Five Cluster of Grief

Answer 21

1. Shock and Disbelief
2. Yearning and Protest
3. Anguish, Disorientation, and Despair
4. Identification in Bereavement
5. Reorganization and Restitution

Question 22

Shock and Disbelief

Answer 22

• feeling of numbness following the death of a loved one

Question 23

Yearning and Protest

Answer 23

• the anger that the bereaved feel may be directed at the deceased for having died
• maybe directed at God
• or directed at others whose loved ones are still alive, or at the caregivers

Question 24

Anguish, Disorientation and Despair

Answer 24

• when the reality of the loss is genuinely admitted, depression can set in
• weeping is common
• the bereaved lose interest and motivation in pursuing the future and lack of confidence and purpose

Question 25

Identification in Bereavement

Answer 25

• the bereaved may take on the behavior, personal traits, habits, and ambitions of the deceased
• sometiems they may also experience the same symptoms of physical illness

Question 26

Reorganization and Restitution

Answer 26

• achieving stability and sense of reintegration can take a epriod of time that ranges widely, from less than a year to several years