Loss and coping Flashcards
Loss=
Absence of something, actual or perceived, that was valued
Grief=
An involuntary, but normal, emotional response to the loss
Mourning=
Outward expression of the grief, an active process to progress towards accommodation
Bereavement=
A period of sadness after the loss
Coping=
Cognitions and behaviours to manage demands felt to be difficult or intolerable to the person.
Types of loss:
- A loved one
- Mobility
- Function
- Independence
- Limbs
- Speech
- Relationships
- Career
- Fertility
- Sense of self
- Future plans
- Future imagined self
Physical and emotional responses to loss=
- Tightness of stress
- Breathless
- Muscle weakness
- Lack of energy
- Fatigue
- Difficulty concentrating
- Intense sadness
- Anxiety
- Insomnia
- Loss of appetite
- Numbness
- Distress
- Fear
- Regret/ guilt
Theories of loss: Freud (1917)=
Comparing normal emotion (mourning) against melancholia (kind of depression)
Theories of loss: Lindemann (1944)=
Psychosomatic perspective on dealing with acute grief, following largest nightclub fire in history. Establishes common symptoms of grief:
- Somatic distress (loss of appetite, fatigue, lack of motivation)
- Preoccupation of images of the deceased
- Guilt
- Hostile reactions
- Loss of pattern of conduct (difficulty carrying out everyday routines)
- Adopting traits of deceased
Kubler- Ross (1969) stages of grief=
- Denial
- Anger
- Bargaining (negotiation process with form of god)
- Depression- loss of control/ hopelessness
- Acceptance
Bowlby (1969) attachment and loss=
‘Lasting psychological connectedness between human beings’- attachment theory in children:
4 stages of grief:
1. shock & numbness
2. yearning & searching- search for comfort they had previously
3. despair & disorganisation- anger, hopelessness
4. reorganisation & recovery- realisation life can still be positive
Problems with the stage / task driven models of loss and grieving=
- Not a linear process
- Stages might repeat
- grief is unique so there are different types of loss
- Assumption that there is one desired outcome and that decathexis is central to the process
Class, Silverman & Nickman (1966) continuing bonds theory=
- Challenging the belief that ‘holding on’ is pathological.
- Suggests continuing the bond can be normal, adaptive and comforting.
- For constructing new relationships.
Dual process model, Strobe & Shut (1999)=
People experience and deal with grief in chunks of loss orientation, restoration and chunks of taking a complete break.
- It is a dynamic process
- recognises the importance of finding meaning
- Takes account the effect of cultural and religious beliefs.
Coping=
is the dynamic process by which people try to manage the perceived discrepancy between demands and resources
Model of coping: Transactional Model of Stress and Coping (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984)
Describes a sequence of reactions people experience after diagnosis of serious illness.
Coping with diagnosis (Chontz, 1975)
1- Shock: feelings of detachment from situation
2- Encounter reaction: disorganised thinking and feeling of loss, grief
3. Retreat- denial of problem
Coping strategies: Miller (1980) Monitoring vs. Blunting=
Appraisal-focused coping
- Logical analysis and mental preparation
- Cognitive redefinition
- Cognitive avoidance or denial
Problem-focused
- Information gathering
- Problem-solving
- Identifying rewards
Emotion-focused
- Regulation of emotions
- Emotional discharge (venting)
- Resigned acceptance
Monitoring
- Information seeking
- Adaptive if perceived as controllable
Blunting
- Information avoiding
- Shields the individual from an increase in arousal
- Useful in uncontrollable situations
What can help with loss and coping?
- Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT)
- Problem solving therapy
- Acceptance and commitment therapy
According to Stroebe and Schut (1999) Dual Process Model, the following are restoration orientated activities:
Intrusion of grief, denial / avoidance of restoration changes, and distraction from grief
