Coping with Loss, Grieving and Death Flashcards
(26 cards)
Loss
situation where a valued object, person or the like is no longer perceived as valuable
Bereavement
subjective response to a loss through the death of a person with whom there has been a significant relationship
Grief
the response to the emotional experience of the loss and is manifested in thoughts, feelings, and behavior
Mourning
the behavioral process through which grief is resolved, often influenced by culture and custom
Infants and toddlers (0-2 years)
-probably don’t understand that someone is dead or has died
3 to 4 years
- does not understand concept of death
- believes death is reversible, a temporary departure or sleep
5-9 years
- understands death is final
- believes own death can be avoided
- associates death with aggression or violence
9-12 years
- understands death as the inevitable end of life
- begins to understand own mortality
12-18 years
- fears of lingering death
- may fantasize that death can be defied, acting out, defiance through reckless behavior
- views death in religious and philosophic terms (afterlife, reincarnation, etc.)
18-45 years
- has increased attitude / awareness towards death that is influenced by religious and cultural beliefs
45-65 years
- accepts own mortality
- encounters death of parents and some peers
- experiences peak of death anxiety
65 years above
- fears prolonged illness
- encounters death of family members and peers
- sees death as having multiple meanings (freedom from pain, reunion with already deceased family members)
Religious beliefs and practices
- mourning for 9 days
- vigils
- last rites: sacraments
- baptism before death
- rosary through the day
- wakes
Religious symbolism:
- the cross
- images of saints
- the rosary
- wearing black or white
Kubler-Ross Stages of Grieving
- Denial
- Anger
- Bargaining
- Depression
- Acceptance
Denial
- refuses to believe that loss is happening
- unreadiness to deal with practical problems
- may assume artificial cheerfulness
Anger
- client or family may direct anger at a nurse or hospital about matters that normally would not bother them
Bargaining
- seeks to bargain and avoid loss
- may express feeling of guilt or fear of punishment for past sins, real or imagined
Depression
- grieves over what has happened and what cannot be
- may talk freely or may withdraw
Acceptance
- comes to terms with loss
- may have a decreased interest in surroundings and support persons
- may wish to begin making plans
Martocchio’s Five Cluster of Grief
- Shock and Disbelief
- Yearning and Protest
- Anguish, Disorientation, and Despair
- Identification in Bereavement
- Reorganization and Restitution
Shock and Disbelief
- feeling of numbness following the death of a loved one
Yearning and Protest
- the anger that the bereaved feel may be directed at the deceased for having died
- maybe directed at God
- or directed at others whose loved ones are still alive, or at the caregivers
Anguish, Disorientation and Despair
- when the reality of the loss is genuinely admitted, depression can set in
- weeping is common
- the bereaved lose interest and motivation in pursuing the future and lack of confidence and purpose
