Psychoanalytic theories suggest that depressive states are a direct result of loss, which causes the individual to regress to a more vulnerable and helpless state - that of an infant. Loss can be experienced in many forms, the loss of a job, of a loved one, loss of health, of finances, of possessions, of status, of freedom etc. The theory suggests that a depressed individual will associate the loss with a traumatic childhood experience such as loss of the mothers affection. The individual then adopts a similar outlook and self identity as they had when they were a child and regress into that dependent and vulnerable state. The theory also suggests that the depressed individuals subsequent behaviour can therefore be seen as an appeal for affection
Grief is a natural response to a major loss, though often deeply painful and can have a negative impact on your life. Any loss can cause varied levels of grief often when someone least expects it however, loss is widely varied and is often only perceived as death. Tugendhat (2005) argued that losses such as infertility, miscarriage, stillbirth, adoption and divorce can cause grief in everyday life. Throughout our lives we all face loss in one way or another, whether it is being diagnosed with a terminal illness, loss of independence due to a serious accident or illness, gaining a criminal record (identity loss), losing our job, home or ending a relationship; we all experience loss
A second loss which is not associated with grief could be loss of an individual’s independence. I am familiar with a case where a boy who had been living freely at home was then moved into residential care. The impact of this loss on the said individual was feelings of confusion, anger and fear. He developed behavioural issues and problems sleeping due to the stress of the change. He felt trapped and unable to make basic
Research indicates that there is a correlation between childhood parental figure loss and adult depression. Studies show the strongest causal relationship occurring when the child experiences the parental loss between five and eight years of age. The elevated risk factor of parental loss that was experienced by Gilbert as well as the previously described symptoms of depression that Gilbert exhibits are strong indicators of Gilbert suffering from prolonged depression (Coffino, 2009).
Losing things, whether it be a person’s favorite pair of old blues jeans that fit just right and they wore everywhere, the family pet that they grew up running in the yard with, or losing someone they love dearly that they spent hours talking to everyday, is an awful thing to go through. In Nye’s poem she writes, “Before you know what kindness really is/ you must lose things,/ feel the future dissolve in a moment/ like salt in a weakened broth” (Lines 1-4). Loss is depressing and gut wrenching, the person feels lost, they feel numb, and they feel everything at once. It is such an overwhelming time, and the person feels as if they will never
Life involves many losses. There are small losses: losing a football game, failing a test, or forgetting an assignment. At some point, though, all of us will experience a major loss: the death of a close family member, a major illness, or a divorce in the family. Loss is inevitable for all of us. If you have ever experienced grief and loss, or if you are currently experiencing it, then you might be trying to recover the wrong way. You might believe that you have gotten over it, but it could come back even years later. When it comes to grief and loss, there are a lot of components that people do not understand, but today there are many methods to coop that will lead you down the path of healing.
Loss happens everyday in people's lives, whether it be a life, home. Pet, or object. Loss affects everyone in
As we grow older, it is socially expected that we fulfil a certain role in society and those expectations encourage or force changes in who we are. As long as we live, our identity will continue to develop and shift according to the situations
Without attachment to a primary caregiver, usually the parents, a child’s emotional health will be impaired and the infant may experience extreme difficulty in relating to others in a positive way (Bowlby 1980; Ainsworth et al 1978). When a primary attachment is ended through separation or death, then grieving takes place. The effects of severed attachment due to death are clear in Cournos’ City of One. According to Susan Goldberg, two separate attachment styles – anxious and avoidant- could be linked to grief reactions. Individuals with anxious attachment tend to show lack of trust in themselves, anxious about separations, fear of being abandoned, and they
In the short stories “The Last Leaf” by O. Henry, “Gwilan’s Harp” by Ursula K LeGuin, and “The Washwoman” by Isaac Singer, the main characters experience loss. All of the main characters of these stories experience loss as they lost someone they knew or loved. For example, the family in “The Washwoman” experienced loss when the Washwoman herself died. Similarly, the main character in “Gwilan’s Harp,” Gwilan, tried to bare the loss of her beloved harp. Furthermore, the main characters in O. Henry’s “The Last Leaf,” experienced loss when Behrman died in the plot twist at the end.
After an individual goes through all the changes of growing up they start to reach middle adulthood. In middle adulthood humans continue to make changes. However, these changes are different from any of the changes that an individual has been through before. Through observation, a lot can be earned about an individual on many different levels. The observer is able to analyze the individual on a biological, cognitive, and psychosocial point of views.
Freud expressed that individuals are victims of their own feelings. Suppression and displacement are defence mechanisms in response to an actual event. These help individuals to cope with emotional turbulences, but this can result in depression. Freud stating that the likelihood to internalise loss objects is normal. Freud also believed that depression is simply due to a super-ego. Consequently the depressive stage arises when the individual’s super-ego is most influential. In comparison, the agitated stage occurs when the individual’s ego mind asserts itself, and the individual feels in control.
When I first thought about this assignment I read the prompt and thought to myself, “have I really ever lost something of significance or of great value that I could write about? The answer was yes. But, as I continued to think about the prompt, I realized “loss’ was something that we all deal with daily.
Dealing with loss affects an individual physically and emotionally. Loss can take a huge toll on anybody. When we talk about loss we are not just talking about the death of a person, but loss of a job or a divorce. People cope with loss in various ways. There are more than just physical and emotional affects that loss can have on a person but these are the main affects that we hear the most about.
In 1981, Palombo systematically reviewed psychoanalytic literature and Investigated the long-term pathological effects of the loss of a parent. This research considered trauma in detail, finding that trauma did not necessarily result in permanent regression or pathological manifestation, as traumatic experiences may adopt differing meanings for each child. Despite evidence of individual differences, a unitary, coherent, conceptual approach was still recommended to help researchers identify the circumstances of parental loss which may result in psychic lesion and produce pathological outcomes. Using standardized instrumentation, research by Worden & Silverman, (1996), examined differences between controls and parentally bereaved children and
Deep personal loss is one of those things that can make a difference because its stored energy requiring an outlet. The magnitude of destruction that results is similar to a recipe for baking. Loss that is great and allowed to fester does not go away, it just heats up and becomes more