Grief and Loss Loss is a necessary and essential experience in human life. As we grow we abandon our favorite objects, like toys or a blanket, we say goodbye to places and people, we are giving up on teenage dreams and hopes of becoming famous artists or performers. These experiences allow us to change, develop, fulfill, and explore our potential. Therefore, loss is not always beneficial, some losses are more difficult to accept than others, and they can be devastating. The emotional response to debilitating loss refers to grief or bereavement which involves life’s changes, the way a person thinks, feels, and expresses themselves. It can be an unpleasant and challenging process of human existence lasting for months or even years.
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Edwards; she lived facing the imminent loss and began each day with the genuine possibility of the death her beloved husband. During the time of anticipatory grieving, she experienced the complicated emotions of being a caregiver and the stress of being alone. As her husband' illness progresses, Mrs. Edwards began suffering from overwhelming anxiety, dread, mental and physical exhaustion along with many more symptoms of normal grief, like sadness, anger, depression, and forgetfulness. Mrs. Edwards took her husband’s death hard; she lost the normal human needs of security and sense of belonging. Eight months following, Mrs. Edwards passed away and was buried next to her husband. Based on Bowlby’s Phases of Grieving, Mrs. Edwards retained affectional bonds with her husband through attachment behaviors, which were crucial to the development of a sense of security and survival. When Mr. Edwards died, the bond was broken leaving his wife with anxiety, protest, and anger. Analyzing Mrs. Edwardson’s grieving process, I think she went through the first two phases and was never able to accept changes and restore her life. Physical distress accompanied the first stage of shock and numbness. It is crucial to progress through this phase to be able to accept and understand emotions and communicate them. In the second phase of yearning and searching, Mrs. Edwardson was acutely aware of the loss, and she was searching for the comfort to fulfill the void of her husband’s absence, looking for constant reminders of him or the ways to be close to him. Unfortunately, not progressing through this phase, she remained preoccupied with the person she lost and this lead to her death. John Bowlby described phase three as despair and disorganization while a person accepted changes
Edwards; she lived facing the imminent loss and began each day with the genuine possibility of the death her beloved husband. During the time of anticipatory grieving, she experienced the complicated emotions of being a caregiver and the stress of being alone. As her husband' illness progresses, Mrs. Edwards began suffering from overwhelming anxiety, dread, mental and physical exhaustion along with many more symptoms of normal grief, like sadness, anger, depression, and forgetfulness. Mrs. Edwards took her husband’s death hard; she lost the normal human needs of security and sense of belonging. Eight months following, Mrs. Edwards passed away and was buried next to her husband. Based on Bowlby’s Phases of Grieving, Mrs. Edwards retained affectional bonds with her husband through attachment behaviors, which were crucial to the development of a sense of security and survival. When Mr. Edwards died, the bond was broken leaving his wife with anxiety, protest, and anger. Analyzing Mrs. Edwardson’s grieving process, I think she went through the first two phases and was never able to accept changes and restore her life. Physical distress accompanied the first stage of shock and numbness. It is crucial to progress through this phase to be able to accept and understand emotions and communicate them. In the second phase of yearning and searching, Mrs. Edwardson was acutely aware of the loss, and she was searching for the comfort to fulfill the void of her husband’s absence, looking for constant reminders of him or the ways to be close to him. Unfortunately, not progressing through this phase, she remained preoccupied with the person she lost and this lead to her death. John Bowlby described phase three as despair and disorganization while a person accepted changes