Surviving a loss, whether a "little death" or a major bereavement, brings with it the possibility of grief and mourning.
Awareness of cultural context and the multiplicity of mourning behaviors are essential to understanding the range of human responses to bereavement.
The human response to loss is complex; it encompasses a multitude of personal, familial, and social factors.
Manifestations of grief encompass physical, behavioral, psychological, and religious-spiritual distress.
Various models of grief—including narrative approaches, continuing bonds with the deceased, Lindemann's "working through" grief, Stroebe and Schut's dual-process model of coping, Rubin's two-track model of bereavement, Worden's tasks of mourning, and Rando's 6R process—have guided the search for patterns in bereavement.
The notion that resolving grief means "letting go" is being revised in light of the recognition that people generally "relocate" the deceased in some fashion into their ongoing lives, creating an enduring bond.
Narrative approaches to grief employ an important component: talking about the death and the deceased.
The course of grief varies in duration, occurs in various sequences, and may disappear or reappear seemingly at random.
Complicated mourning may occur when certain high-risk factors are present in the bereaved’s experience of loss.
Variables influencing grief include the survivor's coping style and model of the world (including his or her values, personality, social roles, and perception of the deceased’s importance), the mode of death (e.g., sudden, anticipated, suicide, or homicide), the survivor’s relationship to the deceased, the presence of social support, and whether the survivor has a sense of "unfinished business" with the deceased.
Disenfranchised grief typically occurs when the significance of a loss is not socially recognized or when the relationship between the deceased and the survivor is not socially sanctioned.
Unfinished business can be aptly termed "business that goes on after death." Something is incomplete. The contents of unfinished business, how it is handled, and how the survivor is affected by it all have an impact on mourning.
The death competence of a grief counselor or therapist—that is, his or her skill in tolerating and managing clients’ problems related to death, dying, and bereavement—is a key factor in determining the efficacy of such counseling or therapy.
Funerals and other leave-taking rituals, including ceremonies that differ from conventional services, as well as survivor support groups, can be important aids to coping with bereavement.
Bereavement can be an opportunity for personal growth.
