Week 4 Grief Flashcards
What are the two ways that one can experience loss?
- Something of value is removed from our lives
- Something of value is changed in our lives
What is primary loss?
Relates to the actual loss event itself
What is a ‘secondary loss’?
A. Is related to the actual loss event itself
B. Is a consequence of a primary loss
C. A and B
D. None of the above
B. Is a consequence of a primary loss
- Emerges out of or as a consequence of primary loss
Loss often presents a person with the challenge of adaption.
Does this loss have to be?
A. Actual
B. Threatened
C. A and B
D. None of the above
C. A and B
Losses can be actual or they can be threatened.
Losses are either chosen or imposed
Which is NOT a form of primary loss?
A. Loss of a partner
B. Loss of an object
C. Loss of a job
D. Loss of role of being a couple
D. Loss of role of being a couple
What is an example of secondary loss?
Primary loss of a partner can lead to secondary such as -
- Loss of companionship
- Loss of role of being a couple
- Loss of travel
- Loss of friendship group
- Loss of income
What does grief consist of?
Our psychological, behavioural, social and physical reactions to loss.
What feelings may be expressed through grief?
- Sorrow
- Despair
- Loneliness
- Abandonment
- Resentment’
- Guilt
What would our sense of protest be looking for in relation to grief?
- Anger, searching a preoccupation with what has been lost
What would our sense of assault be looking for in relation to grief?
- Disorganizing, confusion, fear, anxiety, various physical symptoms.
How may grief be expressed?
- Through tears, social withdraw, emotional out bursts, loss of appetite, physical exhaustions
- May be private, but may also be very public.
What factors may determine the amount of support one is given during the grieving process?
- Nature of the loss
- Circumstances around the loss
- The person experiencing the loss
Grief - Is it true that some forms of losses are not socially recognised?
Yes, they may not be.
This also means the grief will not be socially recognised or supported.
What are some examples of when a person suffering from loss or grief may not be recognised?
- The loss may not be recognised
- The griever may not be recognised
- The loss may not be supported within the grievers social group
- For example, society response to miscarriage of a baby.
What are some potential triggers for revisiting of grief?
Significant Dates
- Anniversaries
- Birthdays
Seasons
Places
Other people
Music.
What is mourning?
Mourning is an active process of adaption.
Different cultures have different expectations and participation in mourning.
Describe normative grieving.
- Observations of shared patterns leading to conceptual models.
- The models describe common pathways and can be used as a guide to understand and normalize behavior following loss.
Describe idiosyncratic grieving.
- Everyone’s experience of grief and loss is unique.
o In the individual
o In the circumstances and contexts surrounding the individual and the response to loss.
What is the focus of idiosyncratic grieving?
- Focus on meaning respect and nuance
What is normative epistemology?
- A belief in the idea that there is an observable, understandable, measurable and possible universal reality that can be captured and explained and used to guide our lives.
What is idiosyncratic epistemology?
- Seeks the individual, personal experience
- Focus on subjective truths rather than objective truths.
- Personal constructed accounts.
List the two normative models.
- Kubler-Ross model (1969)
- Bowlby and Parkes four stages model (1972)
Kubler-Ross is famous for inventing the 5 stages of grief.
What are the 5 stages of grief?
Denial – The first reaction is denial. In this stage, individuals believe the diagnosis is somehow mistaken.
Anger – When the individual recognizes that denial cannot continue, they become frustrated, especially at proximate individuals.
Bargaining – The third stage involves the hope that the individual can avoid a cause of grief. Negotiates with god or whomever for more time.
Depression – The individual despairs at the recognition of their mortality. In this state, the individual may become silent, refuse visitors and spend much of the time mournful and sullen.
Acceptance – In this last stage, individuals embrace mortality or inevitable future, or that of a loved one, or other tragic events. People dying may precede the survivors in this state, which typically comes with a calm, retrospective view for the individual, and a stable condition of emotions.
Bowlby and Parkes invented the four-stage attachment model for grief.
The premise of this grief model is that when an attachment to a loved one is broken through something like death, the feelings of grief we feel are a normal adaptive response to the loss.
What are the 4 categories?
Shock and Numbness: Initial Phase, The shock and numbness are attributed to not being ready to accept the reality of a loss. This phase is a self-defence mechanism that allows a person to cope immediately after learning about their loss.
Yearning and Searching: In this phase, a person experiences all types of emotion — from anxiety to anger, despair, confusion, sorrow, and much more. The bereaved begin to yearn for the return of their loved one, as well as search for meaning in their loss.
Disorganization and Despair: In this phase, a person starts to accept the reality of their loss. As they do so, they might feel the need to withdraw from their everyday life or from activities and hobbies they once enjoyed. They begin to understand that their old reality will never be the same, and this leads to feelings of despair or hopelessness.
Reorganization and Recovery: This is the phase where the mourner begins to understand that their old life is forever changed, but they begin to accept their new “normal.” It’s a slow process, but a person begins to understand the positive aspects of their life after loss. They begin to have increased energy and positive emotions and find renewed interest in activities and hobbies. It doesn’t mean a person stops grieving — they’ll still have moments of sorrow and sadness — but they will also begin to have more positive memories about their relationship with their loved one.
