Exam 3 (Psychosocial Aspects of Death & Dying Ch. 8,9 and 13 Flashcards
Raphael defines mourning as
The process whereby the bereaved gradually undoes the psychological bonds the bound him to the deceased
places grief in the context of the “overarching process of mourning” and calls it a “transitional phase”. Implies that grief is a normal continuous condition
Rando
According to Rando, both grief and mourning are processes, although mourning is driven by…
the social and cultural influences to which the griever is exposed
States that grief is the process that allows us to let go of that which was and be ready for that which is to come
Rando
Lindemann’s five characteristics of grief
1) somatic or bodily distress
2) preoccupation with the image of the deceased
3) guilt
4) hostile reactions
5) inability to function as one had before the death
The uniqueness of the persons grief will be influenced by…
1) how the bereaved perceives the loss
2) The bereaved’s age
3) The age of the person who died
4) The degree to which the bereaved was prepared for the death
5) The bereaved’s inner strength and outer resources
6) The nature of the relationship with the person who died
Worden arranged Lindemann’s five normal grief characteristics into four major categories…
1) feelings
2) physical sensations
3) cognitions
4) behaviors
The feelings that may be present in normal grief
- Anger
- sadness
- guilt
- self-reproach
- anxiety
- loneliness
- fatigue
- helplessness
- shock
- yearning
- emancipation
- relief
- numbness
Physical sensations that may be present in normal grief
- hollowness in the stomach
- tightness in the chest or throat
- shortness of breath
- over sensitivity to noise
- weakness of the muscles
- lack of energy
- dry mouth
- sense of depersonalization
Normal cognitive responses in grieving
- Disbelief
- confusion
- preoccupation with thoughts of the deceased
- deeply felt presence of the deceased
Normal behavioral responses to grief in the American culture
- sleep/appetite disturbances
- social withdrawal
- absent-minded behavior
- restless overactivity
- crying
- sighing
- searching and calling out
- dreaming of the deceased
- visiting places or carrying objects that reminds survivor of the deceased
- avoiding reminders of the deceased
- treasuring objects that once belonged to the deceased
How long these feelings of grief persist will depend on
- nature and length of the relationship with the deceased
- how they died
- The amount of social and cultural support the griever receives
Engel cautions that grief is a..
Healing process that can be interfered with by unsound interventions, sub optimal conditions or a lack of individual coping mechanisms
Engel’s six step model of the stages of grief
1) shock and disbelief
2) developing awareness
3) restitution
4) resolving the loss
5) idealization
6) The outcome
Stroebe suggests that grief work involves….
Reliving, thinking through, and breaking down each item of the shared relationship between the bereaved in the deceased.
The difference between stages of grief and tasks of mourning
There are no guarantees that individuals will move in some natural fashion through the stages of grief neatly accomplishing the tasks along the way
Worden’s four primary requirements for successful completion of grief work (tasks of mourning)
1) accept the reality of the loss
2) experience the pain of grief
3) adjust to environment in which the deceased is missing
4) withdraw emotional energy and reinvest it in another relationship
Avoidance strategies
- buying into societal discomfort with outward displays of mourning
- taking a “geographic cure”
- postponing the grief in hopes that it will go away
- overwork
- over socializing
- over investment in the lives of others
- becoming romantically involved in another relationship prematurely
Consequences of avoidance strategies
Depression, physical reactions, substance abuse, delayed expressions of pain, or experiencing the avoided pain in response to a subsequent loss
Lindemann constructed three tasks of grief which parallel Worden’s and consist of
1) emancipation from the bondage of the deceased
2) readjustment to the environment in which the deceased is missing
3) formation of new relationships
The only universal agreement among grief experts regarding timetables for recovery
Is that there isn’t one.
Raphael grouped the psychological determinants of grief into three “umbrella” categories:
1) pre-existing relationship between the bereaved and the deceased
2) The type of death
3) previous losses
Worden suggest that when considering the nature of the relationship three factors should be addressed
1) The strength of the attachment
2) The security of the attachment
3) The ambivalence of the attachment
Rando identified 20 separate factors that impact the psychological component of bereavement:
1) meaning of the loss
2) qualities of the relationship
3) Roles of the deceased
4) age of the griever
5) grievers sex-role conditioning
6) deceased’s unique characteristics
7) Griever’s mental state
8) Griever’s maturity and intelligence
9) Previous experience with loss
10) cultural elements affecting the griever
11) Fulfillment of the deceased’s life
12) context of the death
13) preventability of the death
14) timelessness of the death
15) expectation of death
16) length of illness
17) involvement with dying person
18) secondary losses
19) additional stressors
