Psychological benefits of funerals - exam 3

Question 1

1. Funeral rituals impose the reality of death upon the bereaved.
2. Funeral rituals validate and legitimize the griever’s feeling of loss.
3. Funerals offer the survivors an environment conductive to the expression of grief.
4. Funerals rekindle memories of the deceased, a necessary aspect of detachment
5. Funerals initiate thoughts about life without the deceased
6. Funerals allow the opportunity for input from the community.
7. Funeral rituals themselves contain many of the elements that constitute psychological therapy.

Answer 1

Psychological benefits of funerals

Question 2

The understandable reluctance of the survivors to accept the loss is confronted by the ceremony and burial of the physical body.

• Viewing the body is the first step
  
  • causes painful reactions
  • rudely awakens the griever to the finality of the loss
  • without this, the griever becomes susceptible to denial to the loss.
    - solidifies pleasant memories of the deceased’s physical wholeness
• Watching the casket lower into the grave is the final reality that, in fact, the death has occurred.

Answer 2

1. Funeral rituals impose the reality of death upon the bereaved

Question 3

Offer the bereaved social acceptance and support for their emotional response to death.

Answer 3

2. Funeral rituals validate and legitimize the griever’s feeling of loss.

Question 4

This allows the mourners a public opportunity to act out emotions and behaviors necessary for working through the grief process.

i.e. - confessing wrongdoing, demonstrating love, and taking care of unfinished business.

All of these can be part of the funeral ritual.

Answer 4

3. Funerals offer survivors an environment conductive to the expression of grief.

Question 5

Detatchment

Answer 5

Decathexis

Question 6

Mourners can begin to revisit their involvement with the deceased, a process that is necessary to effectively complete grief.
- Each story told, each incident remembered, and each emotional shared with others assists in the process of decathexis.

Answer 6

4. Funerals rekindle memories of the deceased, a necessary aspect of detachment.

Question 7

During the grieving period, the mourner will struggle to find a new relationship with the deceased based on memories of the past. The funerary rituals provide a springboard into this new relationship.

Answer 7

5. Funerals initiate thoughts about life without the deceased.

Question 8

Becomes a living memorial to the deceased and helps the griever form an integrated image of the deceased. This is a singular psychological benefit to the mourner. Tributes paid to the deceased emphasize the worth of that individual and establish that he or she is worthy of the pain currently felt by the mourners.

Answer 8

6. Funerals allow the opportunity from the community

Question 9

The activities involved in these rituals allow the griever to “act out” feelings of loss and separation. This acting out provides a therapeutic release for the individual’s emotions in the form of safe and socially acceptable behaviors.

Answer 9

7. Funeral rituals themselves contain many of the elements that constitute psychological therapy.