The death and loss of a loved one is a very difficult process that we have been through or will pass through at some point, it is true that not everyone has the same resources or tools to deal with it, however, sometimes this process becomes chronic and becomes a serious problem, in these cases bereavement therapy can help us.
It is estimated that this occurs between 10 and 20% of the mourning periods, for these cases there are different techniques, supported by different studies, that can help to overcome this state in which everyone can be “prisoners”. will speak of directed lamentation. On the other hand, and first of all, we will try to distinguish between normal and pathological duel, and we will do so motivated by a question: how much suffering is normal?
- Grief is a set of physical.
- Emotional and social reactions that trigger after a significant loss.
- In our case.
- The death of a loved one.
- Symptoms can vary in intensity and duration.
- In some cases even throughout life.
- Either way.
- Remember that at first this is an adaptive reaction.
Pain, sadness and anxiety are the most common feelings, in the same order, in addition to fear and loneliness. Feelings of guilt and reduced interest can also arise for everything around the person. It is normal for these symptoms to go away within six months. One year.
When emotional reactions are much more intense, make it difficult to track daily life and last more than a year, pathological bereavement can be referred to, in these cases unusual symptoms, such as hallucinations (visions or voices of the deceased) or suicidal thoughts, also appear. This process is usually complicated, moreover, by other behaviors such as social isolation, personal abandonment or substance use, this is where it is a good time to seek bereavement therapy so that professionals can help you.
In the treatment of pathological grief, individual and group therapies are used, in fact, it has been proven that in some cases it is very useful to use both, it is about assessing the individual resources of each person, but also about providing the necessary social support to finish with insulation.
In any case, the main objective of bereavement therapy is not to forget the deceased, but to transform the process so that the person’s memory does not cause blockage, so the fundamental objectives of this therapy would be:
This therapy is used in people who are experiencing a psychological duel with behaviors of avoidance, emotional blockage and re-experimentation in the form of nightmares or invasive thoughts, in this sense it should be noted the role that the lament may have played. person to memories related to the deceased, including shared experiences.
For example, it is customary to use card playback or the presentation of photo albums, in any case it is about breaking with disruptive emotional inhibition, the underlying mechanism that makes this type of therapy work is the weakening of the emotional response conditioned (sadness) by the repeated presentation of stimuli that generate the same response, i. e. , we make the patient exposed to what causes sadness on several occasions until the emotion, in the face of frequent presentations, decreases in intensity.
This repeated exhibition may also be motivated by rewarding behaviors, which were set aside because they remembered the deceased, for example: going to the movies, traveling, going out to dinner, etc. In these cases, the activity’s own satisfaction will also be affected. serve as an underlying mechanism of therapy.
How do we know bereavement therapy worked?Below are a series of indicators or signals that allow us to differentiate such recovery:
Grief is a normal process that requires personal preparation that is not always easy to do, in any case, experience pathological bereavement and some of the therapeutic solutions can help us identify and face the final farewell, as well as motivate us to seek professional help if we need it.