General Psychological Reactions Of Human Mortality

The life transition of death and dying is inevitably one with which we will all be faced; we will all experience the death of people we hold close throughout our lifetime. This paper will explore the different processes of grief including the bereavement, mourning, and sorrow individuals go through after losing someone to death. Bereavement is a period of adaptation following a life changing loss. This period encompasses mourning, which includes behaviors and rituals following a death, and the wide range of emotions that go with it. Sorrow is the state of ongoing sadness not overcome in the grieving process; though not pathological, persistent

The loss of an adult child is devastating, just as is the death of a younger child. However, there are differences as to how both the parents react to such losses. In this case the paper focuses on the loss of an adult child and how the parent copes with the situation. The paper will give insight into the situation that precedes the demise of the child such as the trajectory of illnesses. A review on how the parents deal with the loss after it occurs will be discussed as well as the various issues the parent faces. The impact on the parent after the child’s loss will also feature. There will be a summary of the findings, then a section that will give the implications of the research and its importance to the field of psychology, and finally an as well as focusing on the bigger picture of loss with older parents who have lost their children.

On May 11th 2013, my grandma passed away due to pancreatic cancer. A little later that year on September 25th, my mom received a call from my aunt in Guam that my dad had passed away in his sleep. Then on May 14th 2014, my grandpa passed from complications of an allergic reaction to a medication. So within a year, I was left to deal with three immediate family deaths, one right after another. Losing such important figures in one’s life could leave someone depressed and unmotivated to move on with their own life and to rise above those challenges is difficult, yet possible. During this time of hardship, I grew discouraged and saddened, but over time I became motivated to set aside these struggles and make a change.

The experience of a person losing a loved one is very difficult to accept and then cope with. “He gets all teary telling about the good times they had together, how her brother made the war seem almost fun.” pg. 67-68 (Tim O’Brien). Losing someone close to you is hard to accept because once their gone things don’t feel the same anymore and you just can’t stop thinking about them and the memories you guys shared together. It’s also very hard to cope with because you’re so used to having that person around and when their no longer there you feel so empty and that feeling is so horrible. Having to deal with the fact that someone who was so special to you is no longer there isn’t easy to accept.

There is one thing in life that is inevitable - death. This fact makes it hard to lose loved ones. After reading the short stories “Removal of the Cherokees” by Burnett and “Christmas Eve on Lonesome” by Fox, Jr. it is apparent that the main theme is loss. Throughout these stories, the characters’ experience a loss of something that is exceedingly significant. The idea of losing someone you love is very agonizing.

The most common effect of death in a family is known as grief. When we understand it better, it makes the process a little less daunting. We have to realize as humans, we are not alone. Everyone has lost someone they loved and it's a natural thing to deal with. There is no normal way of dealing with death. It doesn't have patterns or a set way of dealing with it.

A common struggle for many folks identify is trying to figure out how grieving is operationalized and whether they are doing it "right". "Doing it right" usually has two meanings for the person struggling with a loss. The first has to do with reaction - many folks spend a good deal of time trying to figure out whether how they are feeling in relation to the loss is normal. The second has to do with process - a desire for a blue print on how to go about grieving.

Throughout life we, as humans, are forced to deal with many aspects of death, whether it be losing

Death and dying is a natural and unavoidable process that all living creatures will experience at some point in life, whether it is one’s own person death or the death of a close friend or family member. Along with the experience of death comes the process of grieving which is the dealing and coping with the loss of the loved one. Any living thing can grieve and relate to a loss, even children (Shortle, Young, & Williams, 1993). “Childhood grief and mourning of family and friends may have immediate and long-lasting consequences including depression, anxiety, social withdrawal, behavioral disturbances, and school underachievement” (Kaufman & Kaufman, 2006, p. 61). American children today grow up in cultures that attempt to avoid grief and

Losing a loved one is like having the rug swept from under you. We make plans for the day, and do not think twice about how those plans can be taken away in the blink of an eye. I never thought much about it myself, until I was faced with the shock, and undeniable truth of my uncle’s death. I do not think anyone really thinks about tragedy until they are actually faced with shocking news. It is amazing how we take life for granted. The tragedy never goes away. You just learn how to cope with it and keep moving on.

Patrick Ness masterfully grants his readers not only a beautiful story of loss, but also a compelling example that displays the truth of the grieving process. Although denied by the protagonist, his story is that of grieving his mother, who while still alive, is undeniably going to die. Some may wonder that it is possible to grieve for someone who is still alive. However, according to Okun and Nowinski, prolonged deaths are in many ways replacing quick ones, drawing out the process of a loved one dying. “...Death has become less and less a sudden and unexpected event. In its place has come a process that... ends eventually in death. This process means that… the family (is) increasingly confronted with the need to ‘live with death’...”(Okun

The loss of an adult child is devastating just as is the death of a younger child. However, there are differences as to how both the parents react to such losses. In this case the paper focuses on loss of an adult child and how the parent copes with the situation. The paper will give insight on the situation that precedes the demise of the child such as trajectory of illnesses which is more recent. A review on how the parents deal with the loss after it occurs will be discussed as well as the various issues the parent faces. The impact on the parent after the child’s loss is also featured. There will be a summary of the findings then finally a section that will give the implications of the research and its importance to the field of psychology and an improvement in human beings

Each person will experience grief in different ways (Rich, 2002) and reactions to grief are strongly influenced by culture and ethnicity (Kleinmann, 2012).With prolonged grief, a sense of hopelessness will also develop (Reynolds, Stack, & Houle, 2011). Bereavement in the elderly is a concern. In the interview, I learnt about the passing of Mr. Daniel’s sibling which he still grief over time to time because his sister usually used to prepare his meals. As stated earlier, he suffering from high blood pressure came as part of him trying to cope. Elderly grieving can also lead to psychological illness such as depression. Most people are able to come to terms with their grief as in Mr. Daniel case without any intervention, but some people are

When this happens our minds will reel, searching for some type of coping method to a problem you may not have encountered before. In situations like this our subconscious leans toward the irrational, with ideas like, "Well we have to do something new and extreme, since because the normal methods worked I wouldn't be stressed anymore." We need to be watchful of this, as it can lead us to self-destructive habits such as substance abuse, or worse lead to suicidal thoughts. The "Summer Solstice" gave a good example of what a person is willing to do when they aren't in their right mind when it said," he went up the iron stairs through the roof of the building and over the soft, tarry surface to the edge, put one leg over the complex green tin cornice and said if they came a step closer that was it." (2-5) This is a prime example of an altered mindset that could eventually lead to thoughts of suicide. Part of dealing with such grief is understanding how we process it. The other part is building up our endurance to the pain our stress brings us. While it may seem unbearable, and it may never completely heal, you can learn new methods to cope with

After being informed of the first death of someone who I truly loved, I learned a tremendous amount about myself. First of all, I learned and experienced what the deep, disheartening, mentally painful feeling of grieving for a lost loved one felt like. It was a feeling of extreme mental pain unlike any other feeling of physical pain I had experienced up to the point. The little 5 year old boy I was, who due to his low age lacked perception and knowledge of many aspects of life, also learned a significantly tremendous amount about one extremely important aspect of life, the end of it. This is because, unlike before my grandpa died, I did not fully understand that every person’s life had to end at one point. My thoughts prior to the death consisted of happy or fun aspects of life, such as candy, playing with my brothers, and so much more. I had never deeply thought at any point about the day all of those happy thoughts had to end. However, when my great grandfather’s life ended, I was forced to think of those thoughts in the worst way possible. I was forced to realize and accept for the first time that death was inevitably going to occur with every single human being, including my other family members, my friends, and myself. Therefore, the