Katja Buckley
PSY 3313: Psychology of Adulthood & Aging
Dr. Cordero
Grief Reaction Paper
While many people believe grieving to be a debilitating process, similar to a disease, it is much more complex than that. Grief, being an emotion, means that individuals have no control over the emotion. It is important to understand, however, that grieving is important and active coping processes that can help restore some sense of normalcy and autonomy to the griever.
According to Leming and Dickinson (2006), grieving is a series of “behaviors and attitudes related to coping with the stressful situation of a change in the status of a relationship.” Research has, over time, attempted to understand coping with dying. Researcher Robert Kavanaugh (1972) identified seven behaviors and feelings that are part of the grieving process that are similar to Kübler-Ross’s five stages of grieving. Kübler-Ross’s five stages are: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Kavanaugh’s seven behaviors and feelings are: shock and denial, disorganization, volatile emotions, guilt, loss and loneliness, relief, and reestablishment.
Following is an overview of the seven behaviors and feelings.
The majority of individuals react to someone’s death with shock and denial. Death seems unreal initially and even as time passes, the bereaved find ways to deny that the person died. According to Leming and Dickinson, some believe that denial is dysfunctional when it also serves a positive function. The temporary denial allows the bereaved to retreat to a safe place, away from loneliness and ugly realities of the situation. Denial, in essence, can protect and individual from the magnitude of the experienced loss.
Following the initial notification of someo...
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...r unfaithful, it is important that individuals move on. Without moving one, it is impossible to experience a newly established social life.
Coping with grief and the four tasks of mourning are equally important when dealing with death and go hand in hand. The four tasks of mourning are similar to the four domains of coping. Accepting the reality of the loss, can be compared to the psychological domain, experiencing the pain can be compared to the physical domain, assuming new social roles can be compared to the social domain, and to reinvesting in new relationships can be compared to the spiritual domain. It is important to understand that grief is not the whole experience of the bereaved. The seven behaviors and feelings are important to become a whole person again and the four stages of mourning allow an individual to, over time, reestablish their social roles.
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
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
In 1969 Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, a psychiatrist, published the Pioneering book On Death and Dying. The work acquainted the world with the grieving process, called the five stages of grief. Kübler-Ross gathered her research from studying individuals with terminal cancer (Johnson, 2007). The first stage of the grieving process is denial. In this stage the person refuses to believe that their loved one is deceased, a common thought during this period is, “This can’t be happening to me” (Johnson, 2007).The second stage of the grieving process is anger. In this level the person becomes frustrated with their circumstances, a customary complaint is “Why is this happening to me?” (Johnson, 2007). The third stage of the grieving process is bargaining. At this point the individual hopes that they can prevent their grief, this typically involves bartering with a higher power, and an ordinary observance during this time is “I will do anything to have them back” (Johnson, 2007). The fourth and most identifiable stage of grief is depression. This phase is habitually the lengthiest as...
There are five stages that are associated with grief and loss. A medical doctor known as Elizabeth Kubler-Ross gave an in-depth explanation of the five stages in her book, “On
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.
Throughout the history of mankind there are two main things that are guaranteed in life, taxes and death. According to researchers at Hebrews For Christians, 56,000,000 people die each year, (Parson, 2014). Many of these people die at ripe old ages while there are a plethora of young people who die slow and tragic deaths. When death occurs many people are not prepared and therefore many devastating things can result from this. People usually experience problems with their emotions, they will stress over a number of situations, and many health issues will arise. Many people become depressed for long periods of time and give up on life. Although there are people who take these experiences to heart, there are many ways a person can deal with these problems. Dealing with these problems in a healthy manner, can lead to a very healthy healing process for everyone who is being affected by it. In this research paper I will discuss three main keys points. The first key point I will discuss the stages of death in the Kubler - Ross Model. Secondly I will discuss is the psychological effect of how death can effect people in many different ways. Third and final, I will show you many different ways a person can deal with grief.
I have had the privilege to walk alongside many people on their grief journeys. Throughout my thirty years of assisting others, I have developed a model of grief processing I call the Berafian Model. This model allows me an opportunity to work with various ages as well as cultural backgrounds.
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.
When we encounter the death of a loved one, it’s hard to understand and realized that the person is gone. According to Elizabeth Kubler Ross, individuals enter different stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and
“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?
Leming, M., & Dickinson, G. (2011). Understanding dying, death, & bereavement. (7th ed., pp. 471-4). Belmont, California: Wadsworth.
The stages of death are known to be a process of mourning that is experienced by individuals from all phases of life. This mourning ensues from an individual’s own death or the death of a loved one. Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross dedicated much of her career to studying this dying process and in turn created the five stages of death. The five stages are; denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. These stages may not occur in sequence and sometimes may intersect with one another (Axelrod, 2006). The reality of death many times causes a feeling of denial; this is known as the first stage. In this stage, people have many emotions and have a tendency to hide from reality. This reaction is momentary, but should not be rushed. The patient or loved one needs time to adjust to the awaiting death. This adjustment helps bring them through to the next stage; anger. Anger is a common feeling and many times routes from a feeling of not being ready. This emotion may be directed toward God, strangers, friends, family or even healthcare professionals (Purcell, 2006). In some cases, it can be targeted...
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.
Everyone has or will experience a loss of a loved one sometime in their lives. It is all a part of the cycle of life and death. The ways each person copes with this loss may differ, but according to Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’s novel On Death and Dying, a person experiences several stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and, finally, acceptance. There is no set time for a person to go through each stage because everyone experiences and copes with grief differently. However, everyone goes through the same general feelings of grief and loss. There are also sections in Kahlil Gibran’s “The Prophet” that connect to the process of grieving: “On Pain,” “On Joy and Sorrow,” and “On Talking.” Kahlil Gibran’s “The Prophet” reflects on Kübler-Ross’s model of the different stages of grief and loss.
People cope with the loss of a loved one in many ways. For some, the experience may lead to personal growth, even though it is a difficult and trying time. There is no right way of coping with death. The way a person grieves depends on the personality of that person and the relationship with the person who has died. How a person copes with grief is affected by the person's cultural and religious background, coping skills, mental history, support systems, and the person's social and financial status.