Grief Notes 2

Question 1

Any grief extending over a long period of time without resolution is known as

Answer 1

• Abnormal
• Complicated
• Unresolved

Question 2

Types of complicated or abnormal or unresolved grief:

Answer 2

1. Complicated (Chronic, Unresolved) grief
2. Delayed grief
3. Exaggerated grief
4. Masked grief

Question 3

Those suffering from chronic grief exhibit reactions that are excessive and extended in duration. The grief appears to never be resolved or come to a satisfactory conclusion.

Answer 3

Complicated (Chronic, Unresolved) grief

Question 4

Suppressed and inhibited and postponed responses to a loss are characteristics of delayed grief.

Answer 4

Delayed Grief:

Question 5

Person appears to be “overacting” to the death when they are suffering from exaggerated grief.

Answer 5

Exaggerated Grief

Question 6

Someone suffering from masked grief experiences difficulty from symptoms and/or behaviors and make no connections to the loss of the loved one. Once discovered and discussed, improvement usually follows.

Answer 6

Masked Grief

Question 7

Differences between Masked and Exaggerated Grief

1. Exaggerated grief: the patient KNOWS the symptoms began around time of the death and are the results of the death experiences.

Answer 7

Differences between Masked and Exaggerated Grief

2. Masked grief: the patient DOES NOT associate the symptoms they are experiencing with a death. Once the connection is made, usually there is improvement.

Question 8

FACTORS THAT MAY COMPLICATE GRIEF

Answer 8

1. Relational
2. Circumstantial
3. Historical
4. Personality
5. Social
6. Concurrent Stresses
7. Communication

Question 9

Nature of the attachment: strength and security of the attachment, ambivalence in the relationship, conflicts with the deceased, dependent relationships

Answer 9

Relational

Question 10

Mode of death: Natural (long or short duration), accidental, suicide, homicide

Answer 10

Circumstantial

Question 11

Were there previous complicated grief reactions?

This is especially important when there were incidents of earlier death events.

Answer 11

Historical

Question 12

Personality variables: age and gender of the survivor, person’s coping style, attachment style, cognitive style, self-esteem and person’s beliefs and values

Answer 12

Personality

Question 13

Lacking a social support network contributes to complicated grief, especially if the death occurs as a result of a “socially unspeakable” cause.
Social variables: support availability, support satisfaction, social role involvements, religious resources and ethnic expectations

Answer 13

Social

Question 14

What else is going on in the life of the person experiencing complicated grief?
Divorce?
Loss of job?
Problems with children?

Answer 14

Concurrent Stresses

Question 15

Lack of communication certainly complicates grief. Families are stressed when communication is poor or non-existent with and/or about the deceased.

Answer 15

Communication

Question 16

What does the funeral director do?

Answer 16

1. The funeral director needs to be aware of these factors and how they may affect the grieving person.
2. The funeral director must recognize these grief reactions may require a referral and the intervention of a certified grief counselor/therapist.
3. Aftercare resource information can provide information about locally available certified personnel.

Question 17

SPECIAL TYPES OF LOSSES:

Answer 17

SUICIDE
SUICIDAL GESTURE
SUICIDAL IDEATION

Question 18

– a deliberate act of self destruction

Answer 18

SUICIDE

Question 19

– unsuccessful suicide attempt

Answer 19

SUICIDAL GESTURE

Question 20

• thoughts about committing suicide

Answer 20

SUICIDAL IDEATION

Question 21

studied thousands of cases of suicide to demonstrate his theory that a person commits suicide because of the influence of society. His theory on suicide includes four (4) types.

Answer 21

EMILE DURKHEIM

Question 22

4 TYPES OF SUICIDE (EMILE DURKHEIM)

Answer 22

1. ANOMIC SUICIDE
2. FATALISTIC SUICIDE
3. ALTRUISTIC SUICIDE
4. EGOISTIC SUICIDE

Question 23

when a person commits suicide during times of adverse conditions such as war or financial hardship, when rules of society don’t apply

Answer 23

ANOMIC SUICIDE

Question 24

because one feels over-regulated or over-controlled. They feel there is no other way out

Answer 24

FATALISTIC SUICIDE

Question 25

due to a high sense of group involvement or out of a sense of duty for a cause (suicide bombers)

Answer 25

ALTRUISTIC SUICIDE

Question 26

due to feelings of being a loner or feelings that one does not fit into society

Answer 26

EGOISTIC SUICIDE

Question 27

Term derived from the Greek words for “well/good” and “death”

Answer 27

EUTHANASIA

Question 28

– withholding of life sustaining drugs or treatment, such as kidney dialysis, from a patient who is terminally ill

Answer 28

PASSIVE EUTHANASIA

Question 29

– taking active measures, such as Dr. Kevorkian did, to end the life of a terminally ill patient

Answer 29

ACTIVE EUTHANASIA

Question 30

– historically an inn for travelers especially one kept by a religious order; also used to indicate a concept designed to treat patients with a life limiting condition, palliative case, keeping the patient comfortable versus curative case

Answer 30

HOSPICE

Question 31

CHILDREN AND GRIEF / CHILDREN AND DEATH (GROLLMAN??) | A CHILD UNDERSTANDING OF DEATH

Answer 31

1. BIRTH – 3 YEARS – no comprehension 2. 3 – 5 YEARS – unable to understand the finality of death; death is like sleep or like taking a long journey 3. 5 – 9 YEARS – may understand that death is final but may not accept it as something that happens to everyone, often personify death 4. 9+ YEARS – understands that death is final

Question 32

``` EXPLAINING DEATH TO CHILDREN (BE SPECIFIC!): WHAT NOT TO SAY: • Make believe stories • Something you wouldn’t believe • Mother has gone on a long journey • God took dad away • Presents are in heaven • Grandma is dead cause she was sick • To dies is to sleep ```

Answer 32

EXPLAINING DEATH TO CHILDREN (BE SPECIFIC!): * Share your own religious convictions * Speak in concrete terms rather than philosophical ones * Grant permission to cry or express feelings * Acknowledge when you do not know the answer

Question 33

CHILDREN ND FUNERALS: The funeral is an important occasion in the life of the family. A child should have the same right as other members of the family to attend the funeral, offer his or her last respects and express love and devotion. Not only is it correct to permit a child to attend a funeral, but approximately the age of seven, a child should be encouraged to attend

Answer 33

GRIEF AND FAMILY SYSTEMS (WORDEN) 1. Functional position or role the deceased played in the family? 2. Emotional integration of the family 3. How families facilitate or hinder emotional expression

Question 34

– the individual’s ability to adjust to the psychological and emotional changes brought on by a stressful event such as the death of a significant other

Answer 34

ADAPTATION

Question 35

– the feelings and their expression

Answer 35

AFFECT

Question 36

– a state of tension, typically characterized by rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath and other similar ramifications of arousal of the autonomic nervous system; and emotion characterized by a vague fear or premonition that something undesirable is going to happen

Answer 36

ANXIETY

Question 37

– grief extending over a long period of time without resolution

Answer 37

COMPLICATED GRIEF

Question 38

– a learned emotional response to death-related phenomenon which is characterized by extreme apprehension

Answer 38

DEATH ANXIETY

Question 39

– inhibited, suppressed or postponed response to a loss

Answer 39

DELAYED GRIEF REACTION

Question 40

– feelings such as happiness, anger or grief, created by brain patterns accompanied by bodily changes

Answer 40

EMOTIONS

Question 41

– strong emotion marked by such reactions as alarm, dread and disquieting

Answer 41

FEAR

Question 42

– the state of being prevented from attaining a purpose; thwarted; the blocking of the satisfaction of a perceived need by some kind of obstacle.

Answer 42

FRUSTRATION

Question 43

– historically an inn for travelers, especially one kept by a religious order; also used to indicate a concept designed to treat patients with a life-limiting condition

Answer 43

HOSPICE

Question 44

– occur when persons experience symptoms and behaviors which cause them difficulty but they do not see or recognize the fact that these are related to the loss

Answer 44

MASKED GRIEF

Question 45

– a strong emotion characterized by sudden and extreme fear

Answer 45

PANIC

Question 46

– a defense mechanism used in grief to return to more familiar and often more primitive modes of coping

Answer 46

REGRESSION

Question 47

– preoccupied and intense thoughts about the deceased

Answer 47

SEARCHING

Question 48

– the sudden and unexpected death of an apparently healthy7 infant, which remains unexplained after a complete autopsy and a review of the circumstances around the death

Answer 48

SUDDEN INFANT DEATH SYNDROME (S.I.D.S.)

Question 49

– a deliberate act of self destruction

Answer 49

SUICIDE

Question 50

– a conscious postponement of addressing anxieties and concerns

Answer 50

SUPPRESSION