Unit 1-Introduction to Grief and Bereavment. Copy

While it is true that individuals need “air, food, water, clothing, and shelter” to survive, we must also include “interactions” to this list because it is uncommon to find someone who can thrive without having close relationships with other people, places, and things.

Grief is the process and emotions we go through when crucial relationships in our lives are drastically disrupted or (more commonly) ended, whether via death, divorce, relocation, theft, destruction, or some other means. For different people, the phrase “bereavement” has diverse meanings, but they all pertain to the grieving process. While some people think of bereavement as a distinct sort of pain, others think of the phrase as referring to the period of time during which grief is felt and losses are coped with when a loved one (typically a spouse) dies.

When someone or something we care about dies, we experience grief. We don’t mourn all lost relationships; rather, we mourn just those that have grown in importance to us through time. These can include relationships with people to whom we have strong ties, such as family members, spouses, significant others, and friends; locations to which we have strong ties, such as our childhood home or hometown; or objects that are important to us, such as the house we grew up in or our hometown. such as love letters, a watch that a grandparent gave us, etc. We may have loved or hated that person, place, or thing, but we feel grief when they (or it) are gone.

There are two types of losses that we may grieve. The first is the actual loss of the person or thing in our lives. The second is the symbolic loss of the events that can no longer occur in the future because of that actual loss. For example, if a child is lost to parents, those parents lose not only their actual child, but also all the many events they expected to share with that child, including birthdays, graduations, wedding days, and other shared events large and small that make up the ongoing relationship with the lost child that is no longer possible because that child has died.

We live our lives in many ways because of our crucial relationships. Our interactions shape who we are and define who we are; they become inextricably linked to our sense of self (or self-concept) and therefore become a living part of us. It’s excruciatingly difficult to lose one of these vital relationships since we lose a piece of ourselves when we lose a significant friendship. As a result, grieving is not a phenomenon that occurs “out there” in the world. Instead, it takes place within each mourning person’s sense of self, which has been individually wounded and injured as a result of such losses. Grief work is thus a personal activity of healing and regrowth of self-identity.

Grief ends when we are no longer in desperate need of the person or object we have lost and can operate properly without them. This isn’t to say that we don’t get sad when we think about past losses; it only means that they aren’t as crippling as they once were.

The majority of people will suffer loss at some point in their lives. Grief is a natural response to any kind of loss. Bereavement is a sort of grief that occurs when a loved one passes away.

Grief and bereavement cover a wide spectrum of emotions, from deep sadness to rage. The process of adjusting to a major loss differs greatly from one person to the next. It is frequently determined by a person’s upbringing, beliefs, and relationship to the lost item

GRIEVING THOUGHTS AND ACTIVITIES
Grief encompasses more than just grief. It can also include feelings of remorse, longing, wrath, and regret. Emotions can be unexpected in their intensity or subtlety. They might be perplexing as well. One person may be mourning the end of a tumultuous relationship. Another individual may be saddened by the death of a loved one from cancer but also feel relieved that the person is no longer suffering.

As they try to make sense of their loss, people in grief often jump from one idea to the next. Thoughts might be comforting (“She had a good life.”) or distressing (“It wasn’t her time.”) People may assign themselves varied levels of culpability, ranging from “I could have done nothing” to “It’s all right.” “I’m to blame for everything.”
Grieving habits are also diverse. Some people find solace in sharing their emotions with others. Others may prefer to be alone with their thoughts and feelings, exercising or writing in silence.

The various emotions, ideas, and behaviors that people express during sorrow can be divided into two categories:

instrumental and intuitive. Most people exhibit a combination of these two grieving styles: The focus of instrumental grief is mostly on problem-solving tasks. Controlling or reducing emotional expressiveness is part of this technique.
The basis of intuitive grief is a heightened emotional experience. Sharing sentiments, examining a lost connection, and contemplating mortality are all part of this style.
There is no one manner of grieving that is superior to another. Some people are more emotional and express their emotions more openly. Others are stoic and may look for ways to avoid thinking about an immutable aspect of life. When it comes to coping with loss, everyone has different needs.