The Grief Process

Molly is a 29-year-old woman unemployed, living with her parents. She presents to the therapist looking sad, stark and exhausted with lethargic movements. She expresses concerns with feeling down for 2 ½ years after a job loss from an exciting IT career. She is unmarried and currently using marijuana regularly and moderate amounts of alcohol to cope with her sadness. She can no longer find pleasure in things, her mood can be described as depressed, and she has poor sleep hygiene, difficulties with concentration, no appetite, and no interest in sex. She also has concerns about feeling irritable and nervous. She has recently unintentionally lost 15lbs. While talking with the therapist she frequently is tearful. This is her first experience with a

Betty Jo reluctantly made the decision to move to an assisted living community, due to high pressure from her healthcare providers and family. She is an 85 years old and a widow of 3 years from her beloved husband of over 50 years. Her husband made sure his financial affairs were in order before his death, and thus managed to provide financial comfort and security for Betty Jo. She has two children, both live out of state. Her daughter Karen, has two adolescent children, and visits her mother once a month. Her son, Adam, is a recovering alcoholic who has trouble keeping a job and frequently seeks financial assistance from his mother, yet rarely visits her at Sunrise Pines. Betty Jo often has to sit down for a minute, due to “dizzy” spells and becomes fatigued at a greater frequency than she did before her husband passed away. Her decision to move came after falling twice in her home, upon having hip replacement surgery. She had trouble keeping her physical therapy appointments, and managing her pain medication. Prior to her move, Betty Jo was active in her church and in the Red Hat Society. Now that she is living in Sunrise Pines, she has become more withdrawn and rarely eats her meals in the main dining area. When she does participate in social activities, she acts out and becomes hostile with her fellow residents. The community director received word that she is refusing to take her antidepressant and blood pressure medication. The director reached out to the local

Frank calls his daughter on his cell phone stating that his wife gets upset when she sees phone numbers from his children on the landline caller ID. Frank is an 81-year-old widower who remarried 12 years ago. In the sixth year of marriage, Frank needed open-heart and bypass surgery, was diagnosed with spinal stenosis, peripheral neuropathy, and has pain that is difficult to manage. During this time, Frank’s personality changed insidiously from a lively conversationalist with many interests, to a somewhat solemn recluse with limited direct contact with his children and friends. Was this due to his change in health or due to the change in the dynamic of his marriage from husband and wife to elder patient and caregiver? Frank’s daughter is extremely upset by this phone call. Frank makes excuses for his wife’s behaviour, such as, “She is cranky because she doesn’t eat breakfast” or “I’m such a burden.” The daughter realizes that immediate action needs to be taken before the situation gets worse.

with feelings of numbness, unreality and fear. The bereaved person may suffer from "survivor guilt,"

Jaida Freeman Dr. Halpin English Comp 1101 11 November 2014 Human Nature Humans are very unique in every way possible. We, as humans, endure much criticism, grief, emotions, and much more in our everyday lives. In Judith Butler’s short essay, she critiques sexual autonomy and its limits on humans. Butler states that “Somewhere in the answer we find ourselves not only committed to a certain view of what life is, and what it should be, but also of what constitutes the human, the distinctively human life, and what does not” (114). A question that we all ask is what does it mean to be human?

The client defines his problem of grief with a mild case of depression to be associated with his physical change and not being able to care for his self as he previously did. He also associates it with the loss of his mother and grandmother. I noticed the client’s chronic grief when I first started visiting him (two months ago). During my third visit with the client I could physically see that his grief was starting to take a toll on his body (also the disease has had an effect as well). His skin was yellow (jaundice), he looked like he lost some weight because he had no appetite, had trouble sleeping, he told me he had blood in his stool, and he told me he didn’t know how to cope with his mom being in the hospital while he was basically home

Psychological effects of losing someone are stress, depression, anxiety, angry, numbness and other grieving symptoms. Grief is how we respond naturally to a loss or any kind. A person

My participation in this session required my full listening skills. There were many nonverbal behaviors observed. She cried profusely as she continued verbalizing many issues that were affecting her present life. She expressed a feeling of hopelessness and an inability to move forward with the things that she needed to get done. She further mentioned having full support from her husband of her situation. She explains that her husband accepts of her fully and remain non-judgmental. Despite his full support, she remained vulnerable and seemed to have not forgiven herself. Her depressive state and consistent mood swings seem too much for her to handle and her concern was an immediate way out emotionally and mentally.

I would like to explore the two grief theories, Dual Process Model and Meaning Reconstruction as they pertain to losing my father to suicide. I will try to uncover some ways these theories related to my experience, and I will also attempt to address the language surrounding suicide to distinguish it as a “unique grief”. And lastly, I will discuss how my personal grief experience may affect my work as an art therapist through artistic exploration.

Grief and loss is a universal human experience. No one experiences it in the exact same way. The more significant the loss the more intense the feelings. Many associate grief with the death of a loved one, which often causes the most intense grief but any loss can cause grief. When people have issues processing grief “normally” than complicated grief and unresolved grief issues may develop. This can become problematic, resulting in a reduced quality of life. The risk factors for experiencing serious symptoms of grief can be connected to the physical and emotional health of the individual. Rather it is due to complicated grief or unresolved grief it is

frustration, anger, or guilt are also normal. Social expressions of grief may include feeling detached

The five stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. After tragedy strikes, it is difficult for many to make it past the first step. When an individual suffers incomprehensible trauma, it is easier to pretend that it did not happen or to ignore those feelings and opt instead for numbness. However when an entire society is affected by a larger threat or attack such as a presidential assassination or a school shooting, people can find solace in creating a story that bypasses the complexity of the emotions they are experiencing; whether that story has any merit or is completely fabricated. Tragedy causes desperate finger pointing and the spread of conspiracies like Alex Jones’ theory that the Sandy Hook shooting

My first is, as a nurse, it is important to communicate with both the patient, along with, their family members in regards to EOL. More so, to make sure that they full understand all their options and as health care providers it is our responsibility to explain the risks and the benefits for any healthcare treatment and how it will impact their quality of life. As well as, to full understand the patient values and goals of care to better assist them and their family in making their decision (Shigeko and Van, 2016).

In my own personal opinion, I believe that one thing that is true about grief is that everyone deals with it different. Some people enjoy being around company during that dark time of losing someone, and others plan to deal with it more by themselves. In my own case, I try to deal with it more by myself rather than being together with and family. My mother passed away a little over one year ago (August 6th, 2016) and it was a very hard time for me. To have someone that I felt that was getting better and better after hitting what seemed like “rock-bottom”, all of a sudden taken from you is very tough. After experiencing this traumatic event, my father wanted me to go with him to my grandparents so we could basically all grief together. I feel

Grief can manifest itself in the form of immense emotional and physical suffering. The people may experience shock, confusion, and disbelief that their loved one