Mental Disabilities : Struggling With Loss And Grief

Write a 750-1,000 word paper analyzing Woterstorff’s reflctions in Lament For a Son. In addition, address Kubler-Ross’ five stages of grief, as they are expressed throughout Lament for a Son, and respond to the following questions:

57) Disabled families often face the effects of stereotypes of disability through government systems where disabled families are often portrayed to be dependent, incapable, and unreasonable. This reality often excludes disabled families from the decisions that affect their lives, and their needs/desires are put aside to favor protecting normalcy. Facilitating interdependence among disabled families and the greater society could bring new light to the experiences of disabled families. Many disabled families fear that they will be separated if deemed “too disabled” to care for one-another, which often prevents them from “coming-out” or asking for help (Wilde & Hoskinson-Clark, 2014, p. 57. Opening communication channels, and fielding trust and creating supportive foundations by directly considering what individual disabled families and want can largely improve life for those with disabilities and impact their perception and acceptance by the larger society. When disabled people feel as though they are understood, protected, and considered in the decisions that impact their lives a sense of independence develops, and the misrepresentation they experience can be largely reduced to allow individual autonomy to

When one loses someone or something valuable to them, the grief can be intense. But what happens when what they lose is actually a piece of them? Novels depicting a witness account of The Holocaust (1941 - 1945) paint a picture of the violence and moral anguish, which is accompanied by a loss to the protagonist. The plot shows a process of events that ultimately leads to death and devastation. Both protagonists in Elie Wiesel’s Night and Wladyslaw Szpilman’s The Pianist gradually fall into the abyss of inhumane behaviour. Post Holocaust, they embark on a new life free from social restraints and become either unmindful or compliant to the losses they faced on their journey. Elie and Wladyslaw

According to Hart (2012), those people who are suffering from grief often seek help from the health care professionals. This is important for the clinicians to identify and address their own experiences in the clinical settings. The main aim of this article is to explore the facts about grief, the common themes of grief and the different ways in which the patient process of the clinicians can be facilitated.

The Two-Track Model of Bereavement is a model that states loss is conceptualized along two axes. Track I pertains to the biopsychosocial functioning in the event of a loss and Track II pertains to the bereaved’s continued emotional attachment and relationship to whoever is deceased. The effect of Track I is seen through the bereaved’s functioning, including their anxiety, their self-esteem and self-worth, and their depressive affect and cognitions. Noting the ability of one to invest in life tasks after experiencing a loss indicates how they are responding to the loss of the deceased. This Track is seen as an expression similar to one of trauma, or crisis. Track II holds that the bereaved has difficulty physically separating from the deceased. This can be seen in emotional, interpersonal, or cognitive ways. It is shown through imagery and memories that the bereaved experiences surrounding the deceased, whether positive or negative, as well as the emotional distance from them. These pictures in the bereaved’s head explain both the cognitive and emotional view of the person who has died (Rubin, 1999).

There are many stereotypes regarding those with intellectual disabilities. This may be because these individuals range in cognitive ability, receptive and expressive language, and physical need. While it may be assumed that those with disabilities are not able to process the world around them, they are not immune to mental health disorders and the, sometimes tragic, events that take place throughout a lifetime. Someone without an intellectual disability may find solace in a friend, partner, or family member. If the event is impactful enough, they may even turn to a mental health professional that is trained to help those going through a tough time. Unfortunately, individuals with disabilities do not always have that same network of support.

Humans are social creatures. We identify ourselves through our community, loved ones, and those who genuinely appreciate our presence. Our identity defines our personality traits, highlight social roles. Those with disabilities are often confused about their identity because they are misunderstood and stigmatized. Through the use of literature, one can empathize better with other people especially those who are misunderstood by society. Disabled people are more likely to be neglected and subjected to prejudice or discrimination. In “Delusion of Grandeur”, Terry Ann Thaxton, talks about the struggle between Adam and his mother because of his disability. Adam struggles to cope with his environment and finds himself isolated and misunderstood. Families ultimately suffer but through their experience, they can learn some amazing lessons.

Disenfranchised grief can affect an individual experiencing loss that is not societally recognized. A term originally described by Kenneth Doka, disenfranchised grief is classically defined by four components, and one specific population subject to experiencing disenfranchised grief is nurses. This is due to the predominant cultural values found in the nursing profession as well as the parameters of the nurse-patient relationship. Knowing that nurses are potentially vulnerable to disenfranchised grief, it is important to discuss the mechanisms to minimize the factors contributing to its occurrence and the consequences of its effects. Awareness of how to help oneself can then be utilized to increase efficacy in the nurse’s position and in aiding patients who are duly experiencing disenfranchised grief.

Grief and loss are some of the most defining characteristics of the human experience. Therefore, dealing with grief and loss is one of the most important things humans must learn. While there are many approaches, Jennifer Kent uses her film The Babadook to suggest that suppression is not a healthy way to deal with grief. By thoughtfully planning the mise-en-scene, soundtrack, and narrative storytelling, Kent teaches viewers that suppression causes the inner monster to come out in all of us, just as it did to Amelia in The Babadook.

Some individuals may struggle with the grieving process. Poor coping mechanisms can lead to major depressive disorders and even anxiety. Grieving individuals may exhibit signs and symptoms of poor physical health because they stop taking care of themselves. Widows and widowers have 8 to 50 times higher suicide rate than the overall population (Snyder, 2009).

In this weeks reading, I read the narrative essay “Disability: There is more than meets the I” by Katie Cooper. Prior to the reading the essay, I expected being paired with similar essays that might have expressed mental disabilities and the struggle with them. Similarly to my expectations, Cooper delves into her experience at nine years old of learning she was dyslexic. Cooper goes into detail about how unsettling it was learning she had a disability and discovering the definition of disability had made her doubt herself. It is important to critically assess Cooper’s narrative in order to understand the role of narratives and how it helps with the acceptance of the identity of being disabled.

Black Americans can have different emotions from crying to being silent. People usually gather in large gatherings to pay respect. Black Americans have a belief that death is God’s will and the deceased is in God’s hand and will be reunited

The poem that I have selected for this essay is “Talking to Grief” by Denise Levertov. I chose this poem because it talks about grief. It also talks about the place that grief should have in a person’s life. The poem describes grief, and compares it to a “homeless dog.” It also describes how a dog deserves its own place in the house, instead of living under a porch or being homeless. This poem talks about how a person can be aware that grief is present, but that it is not always acknowledged and accepted. We all experience grief in different ways, and for different reasons. Everyone deals with grief in their own personal way. This poem describes a point in a person’s life when they are ready to accept grief as a part of their life

An “off-time” family life cycle transition is a non-normative event that happens outside the expected life cycle and may cause trauma or a conflict to the family of the child with the disability. These events that happen are known as unexpected transitions which are experienced at an unanticipated or unusual time during the life cycle transition of a family who have a child with disabilities (Turnbull, Turnbull, Erwin, Soodak, & Shogren, 2011). For example the demise of an older person may be considered a natural part of the life cycle because as one grows old, it is expected that the individual will die eventually. Though, death at whatever age may cause families to struggle emotionally as the passing of a loved one is still hard to bear and accept. But though in grief, the family celebrates the life of a person who has lived to a ripe old age as they leave behind numerous memories which are shared among the family members. These memories have the effect of comforting the family and relieving stress. But the passing of a child is hard to accept, causing a lot of stress to the parents and the family Turnbull (2011), as such a death is generally regarded as cruel twists of fate. Meaning, this was not expected in the family cycle. The parents of the deceased child will be in denial, face heartbreak and loneliness. Society might look at the passing of such a child with disabilities as a relief to the

From a critical disability studies (CDS) perspective, interdependence is the other side to the ‘one-sided’ relationship disabled people experience. Various relationships such as parent -child, friend-friend, or parents with a disabled child and their relationship with family and friends, would have equal responsibility, accountability and value, and are a function of each other. Interdependence is when each individual in the relationship, family, or group, benefit from being a part of it. When this is achieved, equality in the relationship is achieved. Currently, the perspective of interdependence is not prominent, which distorts characteristics and values associated with such traits as independence, autonomy, and care-giving.