As I stated in the previous blog we will now deal with the topic of grief in more detail. What is important to understand is that there is no one “correct” way of dealing with grief, since human beings have their own way of combating grief, which may include clashing of various different emotions, not just one.
Dr. Parkes, who studied bereavement in depth, claimed that an individual must experience the painful feeling associated with losing someone you love in order to adjust with the situation and be able to move forward. It is normal to feel disoriented, lost or numb, as one ends up going over and over the situation in order for it to be fully accepted.
Other leading researchers on the subject say that grieving can be divided into two parts: “loss-oriented coping” and “restoration-oriented coping”. Loss-oriented coping is when the person is yearning for the deceased person, focusing mainly on them whilst feeling deeply the hurt brought by the loss. Restoration-oriented coping refers to when we start adapting to the situation of loosing a loved one.
We will continue learning about other different modes of grief in the next blog, which is the last part of this write-up.
– Danica Cassar is a first year psychology student at the University of Malta. Her main interest in the field is play therapy and looks to further her career in the sector. Danica is an intern at Willingness.com.mt.