Parental Loss

When a child experiences the loss of a parent it can have permanent repercussions that can affect them through their lives. Whether this is through death or separation they all have a huge impact on the child’s present life and there future. The situation that this scenario places not only the child, but the family is one of the most challenging obstacles one can face in life. This means understanding the consequences of such an event is not only important for understanding the mental health of these individuals, but to further our understanding on topics such as grief and depression and possible ties it has to parental loss. It’s a topic that is not only difficult to discuss for some people, but nearly impossible to. This because of the deep …show more content…
This begins with depression. It has been shown that parental loss not only causes depression during the initial grieving phase, but the chances of it continuing into adult-hood is increased. This can lead to a myriad of issues later in life. Long term health is affected by several factors, including the age the child is when they suffer the death of a parent. These results indicate that parental loss to death during childhood is associated with a small increased risk of long-term consequences. However the way the parent was killed is also an important factor, as even though the rates of depression are higher than those who lost their parent to a natural cause, children who experience parental death from external causes have a much higher risk for clinical depression, and especially the more severe forms of depression that lead to hospital admissions. This distinction is important because it’s not just the chances that someone may become depressed, but the severity of it to must be taken into account when thinking about how much of a risk that individual may be to themselves or others. (Berg, L., Rostila, M., & Hjern, A). The age was not only a factor for how the children would develop over time, but it was also an indicator of the effects that hit the child more immediately. This has been shown by a drop in the child’s attendance for school following a parental loss (Gertler, Paul, Levine David I. Ames Minnie). …show more content…
One issue with this topic is just how deep and personal it is to each child and individual that is affected by parental loss. It’s a very traumatic experience that even thinking about brings up painful memories, let alone someone asking you questions, or having you take a survey or questionnaire regarding the topic. Although therapy has been shown to work, it also needs to go with a supporting family to really help the child recover as quickly and efficiently as possible. This leads to finding individuals difficult, but not impossible. Another problem is the size of these studies. It’s difficult to get a comprehensive idea of the general effects when you can get a big enough sample size. Many of these studies reach the thousands in terms of participates, but never in the millions. The research also lacks information regarding other cultures. It’s all been focused on America or European countries. Very little research into an area like Africa, or the Middle East was done if any at all. Speaking from personal experience losing my mother was a difficult and trying time, and the last thing that I was interested in doing then was sociological research, and my family also felt the same way. There’s a reaction to protect the child when suffering from this grief, so getting insight into these individuals is difficult if not possible. However the information that is researched can not only help us with our