Loss grieving and bereavement Flashcards
define grief
“the emotional and psychological reaction to loss
loss
when you no longer have something.
mourning
describes what we do when we experience grief—the outward manifestations.
What you DO.
types of loss
Health
Divorce
Pet
Job
Stage of life
Purpose
when we exeprience grief we have 4 resopnses
feelings
thoughts
behaviours
physical signs
what do we look at to predict how people will grieve
Traumatic death more difficult grieving processes
PMH of mental health difficulties
Cultural beliefs
Relationship difficulties
Previous losses
Social support
Consequences of that loss
pyhysical signs of grief
- Nausea
- Sleep disturbance
- Lethargy
- Reduced appetite
- Psychosomatic illness
- Low level infections
- Headaches
thoughts in response to grief
- Disbelief
- Sense of unreality
- Short term memory loss
- Reduced sense of purpose
- Dreams
- Poor concentration
- Obsessive thoughts
- Dreams
feelings in response to grief
- Anxiety
- Anger
- Sadness
- Guilt
- Relief
- Helplessness
- Numb
- Shock
behaviours in response to grief
- Social withdrawal
- Overactive
- Change in habits
types of grief
- Normal- may find day to day life/ activities difficult. Numbness, shock, pain. Crying, dreaming of the dead, waves of emotion.
- Anticipatory- an impending loss.
- Inhibited- avoiding or escaping feelings.
- Complicated- 7% of people experience this. Completely overwhelmed, obsessive, irrational thoughts, catastrophising. Usually need counselling.
- Delayed- initial grief blocked e.g., losing a parent at a young age, times of war and conflict, substance misuse
- Disenfranchised- grief that is not socially acceptable- e.g., pet, abortion, limb
- Absent- grief in denial
- Exaggerated- grief remains prominent in a person’s life years after loss
2 forms that models of grief take
traditional linear or phasic
experiential
kubler ross model of grief (DABDA)
Denial
Anger
Bargaining
Depression
Acceptance
are linear models valuable to us
- Often interpreted as necessary
- Societal pressures to go through these phases as they are described
- Seen as abnormal if not “ticked off”.
give 2 examples of experiential models
Tonkin
The dual process
tonkin model of grief
- experiential model
- Growing around grief
- This describes what happens from inside out rather than outside in
- Looks like grief is all encompassing at first. The process of getting over grief is not diminishing it but building yourself around it to the point that the grief is no longer so overwhelming.
the dual process- loss and restoration
- Focusses on loss itself- memories, yearning, preoccupation, continuing bonds
- Then restoration- adjusting, what needs to be done, mastering new tasks
- These two processes occur in parallel with each other and you can flip between them therefore not linear
How do societal and cultural differences affect grieving
In a multicultural society there will always be a mixture of beliefs, traditions and expectations.
These rituals offer a sense of stability and security at times of loss.
Every culture has its own thoughts about the meaning of life and what happens after death.
Rituals offer people ways to process and express their grief.
They provide community support, routine and normalcy.
Customs can help address how people cope with death, and what happens after death and can determine how vocal that grief is.
Different ages and genders grieve differently, the period of grieving varies and dress code that is adhered to does also.
examples of how muslims and jews mourn
Muslims: are always buried, there is a washing of the body which is draped before burial, which should occur as soon as possible before death. Women don’t attend the burial. The body is usually kept at home before the burial. Belief in life after death.
Judaism: funeral within 24h of death, buried not cremated
abnormal grief
It is normal to grieve the death of a loved one and this usually occurs over a period of 6m-2y.
In 7% of people this grief becomes somewhat abnormal and intervention is needed, usually in the form of counselling
what does abnormal grief look like
- Intense continued reaction to loss
- Sense of detachment or depersonalisation
- Confused unpredictable behaviour
- High anxiety levels
- Inability to see a future
- Preoccupation with loss
- Co-morbid with other MH issues
- Leads to secondary losses e.g., job, relationships
- Self-destructive behaviour
what do people want when they’re grieving?
- Communication-clear and concise
- Acknowledgement and empathy
- Community and normalisation
- Support to find their own way
