Exam 4: Chapters 5-7 Funeral Service psychology and counseling Flashcards
The reactions of the body to an event often experienced emotionally as sudden, violent and upsetting disturbance.
Feelings
- Shock/disbelief/denial
- Sadness
- Loneliness
- Guilt
- Anger
- Anxiety
- Crying
- Preoccupation with thoughts of the deceased
- Dreams/nightmares
- Confusing awake events
Emotional responses
Usually occurs with sudden deaths, but may also be seen with a prolonged illness. This is a defense mechanism to allow the person tie to adjust to the situation. It is usually short term.
Shock/disbelief/denial
Can be felt for the deceased for the suffering he may have had or because he will no longer be able to experience life. This is also felt for oneself and one’s own loss.
Sadness
Even if the mourner has many other friends and is involved in different social or family activities, he may still experience feelings of this.
Loneliness
Blame directed at oneself and may be based on real or unreal conditions.
- May be real or perceived. Often these feelings are exaggerated because the death does not allow the person to resolve the issue that caused this with the deceased.
Guilt
Can be directed at the person for dying and leaving, at God for not preventing the death, toward other people, or even toward oneself.
Anger
A state of tension typically characterized by rapid heartbeat and shortness of breath. An emotion characterized by a vague fear or premonition that something undesirable is going to happen.
- Can range from mild insecurity to intense panic. Fear of one’s own death or fear of how life will be without the deceased person may cause this.
Anxiety
Whether considered a physical or emotional response, has a therapeutic value. It diminishes the negative effects of pent-up emotions and relieves stress.
Crying
This may cause absent-mindedness or the inability to concentrate. These thoughts may not only be of the past life of the deceased, but also fantasies about the deceased still being alive.
Preoccupation with thoughts of the deceased.
May be very distressful to a mourner and increase his feelings of guilt, fear, and anxiety. Pleasant dreams of the deceased may give the person a feeing of reassurance and calm.
Dreams/nightmares
Although these are considered by many people to be paranormal or spiritual happenings, all have a firm foundation in reality and psychology. They include seeing or hearing the deceased or feeling as though the deceased is present or directing events.
Confusing awake events
- Strengthening of a person’s spiritual beliefs
- Weakening of a person’s spiritual beliefs
- Causing questions as to the meaning of life and death, beliefs, and values.
Spiritual responses
- Preoccupation with death
- Inability to concentrate
- Disorganized thoughts
- “I wish I could have a few more minutes with”
- “I wish it would have been me”
- “It all seems like a bad dream”
- Sense of presence, seeing, hearing loved one
- Suicidal thoughts
- Inability to remember
- Easily distracted
- “Why”
- “I think I am going crazy”
- “If only…”
Cognitive responses (Thinking)
- Doing or saying things contrary to beliefs or accustomed behavior
- Staying inside all the time or needing to stay away from home
- Frequent visits to the gravesite, church or places associated with the deceased
- Loss of interest in social activities and the world in general
- Sleep disturbances, i.e., trouble getting to sleep, staying asleep, troubled dreams.
- Changes in eating habits and appetite, social withdraw
- Increase in chemical use
- Frequent crying or angry outbursts
Behavioral responses (actions)
- Sighing
- Headaches
- Startle response
- Crying
- Menstrual difficulties
- Dizziness
- Fatigue
- Trembling
- Muscular tension
- Insomnia
- Emptiness in gut
- Appetite loss
- Stomach problems
- Something stuck in throat
- Lowered immunity to illness
- Sexual desire changes
- Shortness of breath
- Increased/decreased activity
Physical responses
- Negative thoughts
- Confusion
- difficulty concentrating
- Lower productivity
- Sleeplessness
- Forgetting details
- Mind going blank
Mental responses
- Emotional responses
- Spiritual responses
- Cognitive responses
- Behavioral responses
- Physical responses
- Mental responses
Normal Grief Reactions (chapter 5)
- Normal coping behavior
- Number of previous losses and deaths
- Grief overload
- Concurrent stressors
- Expectations of local, cultural, and religious groups
- Available support network
- Gender conditioning
- Physical and mental health
- Pre-death adjustment time
- Unfinished business with the deceased
- Secondary losses
- Importance of the relationship
- Age of deceased
- Fulfillment of dreams
Determinants of grief (chapter 6)
Past coping behaviors (anger, physically ill, cries, turns inward with silence and introspection) is usually how one will behave in the future.
- Important to know because someone who does not may may seem cold when in reality it is normal coping behavior for that individual.
- Normal coping behavior
- Grief can be cumulative, a person does not always gain strength from each loss in a given period of time.
- Can gain knowledge about the effect of loss and the response each time a new loss is experienced
- Each loss does not make the adjustment to the new loss easier - the negative effect may build up and be brought to the surface during subsequent losses.
- Number of previous losses and deaths
This means that a person can experiences too many losses in a given period of time.
- These losses do not need to be the same.
- grief overload- can manifest itself in what others consider an exaggerated response to the most recent loss.
- Grief overload
Just as someone can experience grief overload, they can also experience a state of overload from different stressful events that occur at the same time.
- May not be able to react with their usual “together” response.
- Concurrent stressors
Part of our response, despite grief being an individual response, is determined by what is expected of us by members of important groups in our lives.
- part of our behavior can be dictated and nurtured by different affiliations in our life.
- Dictates can become so ingrained in our psyche that we are not even aware of their source.
- Revert to what seems instinctual
- What is right and appropriate for one group of people may not be the same for another group
- Expectations of local, cultural, and religious groups