The question of authority

Mental-Capacity-Act

Journey with grief

The grief journey

Thoughts on bereavement

Colin Murray Parkes has taken into consideration that there exist a multitude of factors that determine and shape the grief response to bereavement and describes grief in terms of a psychsocial transition or PST. Parkes focused attention on the questions of how people attempt to establish connections to others following bereavement. When and under what conditions is griefwork insufficient for resolution? Parkes identifies three components as central to griefwork: Preoccupation with thoughts of the deceased person (attachment seeking behaviors described by Bowlby) Repeatedly going over the loss experience in one's mind (testing the reality of the loss) Attempts to explain the loss or make some sense of the death. Parkes makes note of the antecedent, concurrent and subsequent factors that help shape an individual response to grief: Antecedent factors: Childhood experiences (notably the loss of a 'significant other') Later experiences - again involving a 'significant other' Previous mental illness - especially depressive illness Life crisis prior to bereavement and their resolution if any Relationship with the deceased Kinship (spouse, child, parent, cousin etc.) Strength of the attachment Security of the attachment Degree of reliance or dependence on the deceased Intensity of ambivalence in the relationship and towards the death (love/hate) Mode and timeliness of the death Preparation for bereavement or anticipation of the loss Concurrent Factors Effecting Grief: Gender Age of the deceased and of the survivor Personality (proneness to grief and the need to inhibit or express feelings Socioeconomic status Nationality, ethnicity and culture Religion - including rituals as well as faith and spirituality Subsequent Factors: Social support or social isolation Secondary stresses and losses Emerging life opportunities Although the above list is not exhaustive it is extensive.