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Ways to Cope With Bereavement

Posted on March 2, 2007 - by admin

Most traumas, including the death of a spouse are potentially shattering experiences. These events can disrupt the survivor?s social, emotional, and cognitive worlds. Although there has been frequent mention in the literature that traumatic situations cause people to talk about their experiences most evidence has been anecdotal. When someone within a social network dies, members of the network are naturally drawn together. During the grieving period especially within the first few days or weeks the survivors socially share their emotions and memories with each other.

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Hello Again Dr. Gloria and Dr. Heidi

Posted on March 1, 2007 - by admin

Hello Again Dr. Gloria and Dr. Heidi, I wrote you both with a question concerning my indifference toward the drunk driver who killed my daughter, Krystal Duss. And my difficulty in dealing with MADD although I am grateful for all the help they gave my family during the trial. I can not deal with DUI accidents. I would like both of your insights and Cathy’s. Just so you will know, I have been in grief counseling since about 4 weeks after Krystal was killed. I still go to counseling because it helps me. My counselor has a Phd and has […]

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Grief Pin

Posted on February 28, 2007 - by admin

Hello Friends, Just a friendly reminder to all members that midnight Wednesday is the last day to complete our survey and receive your FREE GRIEF PIN compliments of MyGriefSpace.Com. COMPLETE SURVEY AT: http://www.griefencounters.com/mgs_survey.htm All surveys completed by midnight on Wednesday, 02-28-07, will receive a free pin in the mail. :o) Thank you to everyone who participated. One free pin per member. Best Regards, John Pete, GC-C http://www.MyGriefSpace.Com

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Dear Dr. Gloria and Dr. Heidi

Posted on February 27, 2007 - by admin

I feel like I am going into the pit again. As you know, the grief is with me everyday, but I was beginning to have moments of joy and even lightness of heart. But now the Pain is overtaking me again. I try to lean into the pain, relax, breath, go for walks on the beach every day, pray, sit in silence, read, but finally the pain overcomes me and I have to retreat to the guest room, close the door and let the pain engulf me. I actually feel such physical pain that my chest feels like it has […]

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What To Do When Someone Dies And There Was No Time For Goodbyes

Posted on February 27, 2007 - by admin

Not infrequently, death occurs and surviving family members and friends do not have the opportunity to say goodbye to the loved one who died. Fatal automobile accidents and heart attacks, hurricanes, murders, and many other unexpected events are the catalysts for much anxiety and deeply felt grief. Many survivors are guilt ridden when in fact there is clearly no outward cause for such guilt. They did nothing wrong. Yet, unexpected death often wipes out our ability to see that we did not create the circumstances to cause the emotion being experienced. Sometimes dying people choose to die when those close […]

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Dr. Heidi Clears the Air

Posted on February 25, 2007 - by admin

The death of a child or sibling understandably turns ones world upside down, plunging them into the dark depths of grief.? It has been my experience that the age of the person that died and their relationship to the survivor makes a significant difference in how one copes.? Six months is a very short period of time following the death of a child or sibling, and it is normal that one would still be mourning this kind of loss.? Therefore, we were perplexed to see that a recent article in the Chicago Tribune found that most people?s anguish eases after […]

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Dr. Gloria Offers a Formal Reponse to Chicago Tribune’s “Scientists meaure 5 stages of Grief”

Posted on February 23, 2007 - by admin

Dear Dr. Prigerson, I just wanted to share with you the response to Ronald Kotulak’s article that we will be putting on our blog.? We have been receiving angry e-mails regarding his generalizing your study to bereaved parents.? If you or the other authors have any comments please send them off to us and we will add them to the blog.? We will also be talking about the article on our internet radio show next Thursday.? Thanks, Gloria Horsley ? This is a response to the article From the Chicago Tribune Scientists measure 5 stages of Grief by Ronald Kotulak, […]

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Scientists measure 5 stages of grief

Posted on February 23, 2007 - by admin

Most people’s anguish eases after six months; others might need treatment, study finds By Ronald Kotulak Tribune science reporter Published February 20, 2007, 10:31 PM CST (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0702210198feb21,1,938128.story) When a loved one dies, people go through five stages of grieving, according to accepted wisdom: disbelief, yearning, anger, depression and acceptance. Now the first large-scale study to examine the five stages suggests that they are accurate, and that if a person has not moved through the negative stages in six months, he or she may need professional help dealing with the bereavement. The study, published in Wednesday’s issue of the Journal of […]

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A Response from Dr. Heidi

Posted on February 23, 2007 - by admin

As far as the term “acceptance” goes, I don’t know how the authors are operationally defining this term.? They might be defining it as “realizing that the death is permanent and the person is not going to return.”? What I would like to have more info. on is:? I would like to see the sample broken down more (I need to see the original study).? Possibly those that are still depressed after 6 mos. are those that lost children.? Those that are not depressed might be people who have lost elderly parents.? I think the age of the person that […]

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Response to “5 Stages of Grief Scientific Study”

Posted on February 23, 2007 - by admin

The scientific study that is referred to in this article is NOT scientific. I do not know how this study was conducted nor is that important, but the conclusions drawn are erroneous. How can you measure the depth of grief? One cannot say that dealing with grief after a sudden loss is more difficult than dealing with loss after illness. The only way you could know that is if one lost the same loved one in both ways-which of course is impossible. A person who lost a loved one after a long illness may look at someone else?s sudden loss […]

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