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The impact of culture on an individual coping with grief paper
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Different cultures'views on death
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How many times have you heard a person talk about getting closure? The conversation usually goes something like this: “It is good that they are having a funeral service in a few days so the family can get closure.” Or maybe something like this, “Now that they have made it through the first year without their loved one, they should have closure.” We should note that the second year is actually often more difficult emotionally than the first year. We will talk more about the second year grief in the coming pages.
Our society likes to have things neat and clean. Things should be done orderly, follow a step by step agenda, and have a proper timetable. When things don’t fit in the mold that society offers, then it is most often assumed that something is wrong. The same is true for a person in grief. Society will allow you a short time grieve and cry. It is expected after the loss of a loved one for a short period of time. However, if it goes on too long they will reject the person as carrying on with their mourning for too long.
Every culture is a little bit different when it comes to the expression of grief through tears. In the United States we have a melting pot of cultures with a variety of different traditions surrounding grief. However crying or any public display of emotion is generally frowned upon. We have little tolerance for emotional outbursts. Even too much celebrating after scoring points in a ball game will earn you and your team a foul.
Crying is often seen as a sign of weakness. This is a cultural myth in our country. Crying is a reaction to something that triggered emotion or physical pain. Some people cry easily and tears can be a sign of joy or pain. Other people perhaps were raised to never cry o...
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...our mind and it is nearly impossible to not imagine a pink elephant. In the same way, a business can tell its employees to not think about their personal problems while at work, but it is nearly impossible. That is almost like trying to stop the wind, or hold back the ocean.
Your co-workers may suggest now that the funeral is over; the divorce is finalized; or the loss is past and you have moved on that you should now be over it. You have closure now. The world doesn’t want you to ever express sadness or grief with few exceptions.
The process of grief is not something that has a clear start and stop point. You can’t say, “Here are the five easy steps to grief recovery.” The process may have many stops and starts. About the time you think you have finally moved on, you may catch yourself in a memory hug and shedding some tears. It takes as long as it takes.
All over the world and every walk of life, people experience the loss, and mourning as part of the normal life. Mourning usually occurs as a response of loss of relationship with the person, people or even animals with whom you are attached to such as death of a loved one, terminal illness, loss of your pets and animals. There are five stages of the normal grieving process: denial or isolation, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance; the grieving process
This made everyday a little bit better as I have kept this in the back of my mind. The National Hospice Organization says “In a sense, you are never finished grieving”. This is true, one will always feel sadness when remembering an individual that used to be in your life and is no longer here with you. Although, you can remind yourself the good days that you had with them. Remember their smile and what they did when they seen you. Always remembering that they’re with you everyday just not there
It is common for those experiencing grief to deny the death altogether. Many people do this by avoiding situations and places that remind them of the deceased (Leming & Dickinson, 2016). However, by simply avoiding the topic of death and pain, the mourner only achieves temporary relief while in turn creating more permanent lasting agony (Rich, 2005). In this stage, mourners will begin to feel the full weight of the circumstance. Whether the death of a loved one was sudden or long-term, survivors will feel a full range of emotions, such as sadness, guilt, anger, frustration, hopelessness, or grief. While many of these emotions can cause serious suffering, it is important for the survivor to feel whatever emotions come up and deal with those feelings, rather than trying to suppress any
What is Grief? Merriam-Webster ‘s online dictionary defines grief as, “deep sadness caused by someone’s death; a deep sadness; and/or a trouble or annoyance”(n.d.). This term may have a different way of impacting one’s life depending on geographical location; culture plays an important role in how those that experiences a loss or hardship, cope with grief. After further research, a closer look will be taken at the five stages associated with grief and loss, how Hindu and Islamic Muslim culture deal with death, and how cultural differences may impact the stages of grief.
Individually, everyone has their own methods of dealing with situations and emotions regardless of any positive or negative connotation affixed to them. One prime example of this comes with grief. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross in her 1969 book “On Death and Dying” suggests that there are five stages of mourning and grief that are universal and, at one point or another, experienced by people from all walks of life. These stages, in no particular order, are as follows: Denial and Isolation, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and finally Acceptance. Each individual person works through these stages in different orders for varying levels of time and intensity, but most if not all are necessary to “move on.” In order for positive change to occur following a loss, one must come to terms with not only the event but also themselves.
Thesis statement: Research suggests that individuals with developmental disabilities require better access to adapted grief counseling because there is an increased risk of behavioral and emotional disturbances, they have a smaller support network, and their caregivers assume that they don 't understand loss.
I cry. There is pressure behind my eyes, my skin turns blotchy and my lips tremble, and mucus clogs my airways, making it difficult to breath. I hate crying in front of others: not because I want to hide how upset I am, but because the second that most people perceive my emotional state as fragile, they assume my reasoning and mental functions are also not sound. The outward expression of an inward instability is something we save for those who we know and trust best. They do not view our emotionality as a weakness, they already know us to be strong. Crying is represented in our culture as a lack of control. When upset, the "ideal" is to keep a cool head (and a poker face), not allowing emotions to enter into the decision making process. However, I submit that without our emotional base, rationality would have no reason or foundation upon which to operate.
Upon receiving the news that a loved one had died, those left to mourn, called survivors, often find themselves entangled in a complex web of emotions and reactions. The death of a loved one can be a frightening, overwhelming, and painful experience and the physical, psychological, and social effects of loss are articulated through the practice of grief. Grief has been known to be experienced in five stages called the Five Stages of Grief where each phase of the grieving process will go from initial denial to the slow healing of acceptance. However, the devastating aftermath of a loss of a loved one, coupled with the suffering experienced through the five stages of grief can cause the survivor to commit suicide themselves.
Some people may stay to them self’s and away from other people, others need time to grieve, others turn to drugs to hide the pain. There are some people that will seek out support groups or even professional mental help to deal with their loss. The psychologist can refer them to support groups or a good mental health professional to talk with.
“I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil.” (J.R.R Tolkien, 1955). The manifestation of grief varies from person to person, culture to culture, even religion to religion. However, in each case a few constants remain such as the stages of grief. How does the type of death affect grieving? What about the age grieving person?
It is not easy to cope after a loved one dies. There will be lots of mourning and grieving. Mourning is the natural process you go through to accept a major loss. Mourning may include religious traditions honoring the dead or gathering with friends and family to share your loss. (Mallon, 2008) Mourning is personal and may last months or years.
While the end of life experience is universal, the behaviors associated with expressing grief are very much culturally bound. Death and grief being normal life events, all cultures have developed ways to cope with death in a respectful manner, and interfering with these practices can disrupt people’s ability to cope during the grieving
.oh, sorry, I was starting to repeat myself there. Anyway, people cry. And just like there's a bunch of different types of laughter (we'll talk more about that later, I'm on a roll now), people cry at all different kinds of stuff. Obviously, there's the sad crying, which I won't get into at length. I mean it's depressing to talk about crying associated with deaths of loved ones, break-ups with your "significant others" (insert that annoying quote thing that people make with their hands here), witnessing hardship like the starvation in Somalia or that ethnic fighting in Bosnia.
Know that grieving is important. When you lose something or someone, grieving is just a normal process and it is important that you allow yourself a proper grieving period to ensure that you will be able to move on.
Dealing with the grief of a loved one is not an easy task. Only time can heal the pain of someone you’re used to be around is suddenly gone. When my uncle passed it was the first experience with death in which I was old enough to understand. Nobody really close to my family had passed away before, so I was unprepared with the pain and sadness that came with it. I also thought about it but I never really thought of something like this happening to me. I wish I had spent more time with my uncle, but I never thought about it because I never thought he would passing away so quickly. This is always why it is good for every day to show your family how much you love and appreciate them because you never know when their last day on earth is.