The process for grieving a loss is a difficult one, suppose that you do not have any close relationships with anyone, do you still feel the impact of the loss? For many people with learning disabilities the only form of attachment they have is with a primary caregiver, this finding may be present due to the inability to communicate or the stigma with cognitive disability. The importance of studying the impact of death on these individuals is to better understand how to comfort and aid with their coping mechanisms. With the increased occurrence of learning disabilities such as Autism and Asperger’s, understanding the influence that death has on these individuals is important due to the increased population and their dependence on aging individuals. The purpose of this paper is to prove that people with learning disabilities can comprehend and grieve the death of a loved one.
An investigation into how Autistic children mourn is shown in Gomberoff and Gomberoff’s (2000) study of Autistic devices in grieving children. However, Gomberoff and Gomberoff (2000) did not measure the impact of loss on the children studied, rather the cause of the bereavement in the children. Gomberoff and Gomberoff (2000) conducted their study through two cases where the mourning process highlighted the symptoms commonly associated with autism. By conducting a case study Gomberoff and Gomberoff (2000) could closely monitor their participants and record accurate data over the course of the study. In order to ensure that their participants could not be identified, Gomberoff and Gomberoff (2000) concealed the names of their participants, referring to them as Bernice and Aurelia in the study. Both participants’ mothers were expecting another child and the grief...
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...ying grief in adults with learning disabilities.": Reply. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 176, 297-298.
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When it comes to required academic reading, I can be a rather fussy reviewer. After all, I don’t get to choose the books that I read – they’re required. However, Life after Loss is a purposeful and very well thought-out book. Author Bob Deits paints a picture of grief in a very honest, if not blunt, manner that seldom repeats itself. The anecdotes used (even if he used the annoying tactic of making them up) were engaging and inspiring. Each chapter was concise, uncluttered, and easy to read, and bullet points were used sparingly and to good effect. In this soup to nuts introduction to the grief process, the physical, emotional, and relationship elements of this difficult topic were presented in a strength based and compassionate way.
The characters in Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones are faced with the difficult task of overcoming the loss of Susie, their daughter and sister. Jack, Abigail, Buckley, and Lindsey each deal with the loss differently. However, it is Susie who has the most difficulty accepting the loss of her own life. Several psychologists separate the grieving process into two main categories: intuitive and instrumental grievers. Intuitive grievers communicate their emotional distress and “experience, express, and adapt to grief on a very affective level” (Doka, par. 27). Instrumental grievers focus their attention towards an activity, whether it is into work or into a hobby, usually relating to the loss (Doka par. 28). Although each character deals with their grief differently, there is one common denominator: the reaction of one affects all.
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Many different types of loss can elicit the chronic sorrow coping mechanism. Although it was first applied to parents of mentally disabled children, it has since been noted in a multitude of other sensations of loss (Eakes et al., 1998). While loss is generally associated with death, new evidence indicates that the sensation of loss is often present and perhaps more severely experienced with regards to a disrupted ideal or ongoing reminder of deficiency and undesirability of an expected outcome (Casale, 2009). In this way, it is clear that while death and loss are certainly linked, loss outcomes and coping responses to death as compared to an ongoing loss, such as in the case of severe mental impairment, are distinct (Teel, 1991). The distinction between these two very different mechanisms of loss can most ea...
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.
Sebold makes clear that these stages do not necessarily remain adamant, but that families coping with loss adhere to grief and loss in assorted ways. If readers confine their understanding of grief to coping and loss with death of a loved one, then the reader finds that they have trouble elucid...
When a loved one dies a person is often overcome with a variety of emotions including, but not limited to, sorrow, anger, and grief. Grief takes many forms, some are healthy and normal, while others are abnormal and may cause possible future damage to a person’s psyche. In his Symptomatology and Management of Acute Grief, Eric Lindemann discusses normal and abnormal grief and the physical and mental side effects of each. Acute or abnormal grief often resulted in a physical representation of a person’s grief. Agitated depression, hostility and anger, lack of social interaction and sometimes the onset of an actual illness occurred in those who suffered from acute grief. Although all individuals in his did not show all effects he mentioned it
T., Focht-New, G., & Faulkner, M. J. (2004). Grief in the shadows: exploring loss and bereavement in people with developmental disabilities. Issues in mental health nursing, 25. doi:10.1080/01612840490506383
...spectives Of Bereaved Family Members On Their Experiences Of Support In Palliative Care.” International Journal of Palliative Nursing. 19.6 (June 2013): 282-288. Academic Search Premier. Web. 5 Nov. 2013.
With the mention of death, three words come to mind, e.g., grief, mourning, and bereavement. Although, Touhy and Jett (2016) cited that these three words are used interchangeably, the authors differentiated the three, e.g., bereavement indicates the occurrence of a loss; grief referred to the emotional response to the loss, and mourning as the “outward expression of loss” (p. 482). It should be noted, that all three implied a loss. In addition, they are applied not only in times of death, but also in all kinds of loss. A loss brings along with it a trail of thoughts, feelings, and emotions. One such thought is the consideration of what it would be when one is gone forever. As discussed
Perry, B.D. (2001). Death and loss: Helping children manage their grief. Early Childhood Today,15(4), 22-23.
Regarding Teel’s article on chronic sorrow, we create close relationships with others. These relationships when broken can cause us to feel a sense of extreme loss. In the case of a child that is born with a cognitive disability, the parent’s will feel a sense of great loss. Although the child is physically still there with them, there is a constant reminder of the loss of a healthy and fully cognitive child. Family members may eventually adjust to the new lifestyle associated with a child with a disability, there still may be episodes of sadness. Freud believes mourning is not a pathological reaction, and will resolve over time. Grief is a normal response to a situation that is bad or distressing. Physical reactions as well as emotional reactions will be present in a distressing situation. These physical reactions may include: a tight throat, difficulty breathing, weakness, a feeling of emptiness, and a feeling of si...
Major Depressive Disorder and the “Bereavement Exclusion”. American Psychiatric Association DSM-5 Development. Retrieved March 8, 2014, from http://www.dsm5.org/Documents/Bereavement%20Exclusion%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf
Grief can be defined as the natural reaction to loss. Grief is both a universal and personal experience (Mayo Clinic, 2014). Individual experiences of grief vary and are influenced by the nature of the loss (Mayo Clinic, 2014). There are multiple different theories that have attempted to explain the complex process of grief and loss. Theorists such as Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, William Worden and John Bowbly explain in their theories how they believe an individual deals with the grieving process. In this essay, I will be focusing on William Worden’s theory and will be discussing the process for a child aged nine to eleven.