Surviving a loss, whether a "little death" or a major bereavement experience, brings with it the possibility of grief and mourning.
Awareness of cultural context and the multiplicity of mourning behaviors is essential to understanding the range of human responses to bereavement.
The human response to loss is complex; it encompasses a multitude of personal, familial, and social factors.
Manifestations of grief include both physical and psychological distress.
Complicated mourning may occur when certain high-risk factors are present in the bereaved's experience of loss.
Various models of grief--including Kübler-Ross's five stages, Lindemann's "working through" grief, Worden's tasks of mourning, and Rando's 6R process of mourning--have guided the search for patterns in bereavement.
The notion that resolving grief means "letting go" is being revised in light of the recognition that people generally "relocate" the deceased in some fashion into their ongoing lives.
Narrative approaches to grief employ an important component: talking about the death and the deceased.
Variables influencing grief include the survivor's model of the world (including his or her values, personality, social roles, and perception of the deceased's importance), the mode of death (e.g., sudden, anticipated, suicide, or homicide), the survivor's relationship to the deceased, the presence of social support, and whether the survivor has a sense of "unfinished business" with the deceased.
Disenfranchised grief typically occurs when the significance of a loss is not socially recognized or when the relationship between the deceased and the survivor is not socially sanctioned.
Funerals and other leave-taking rituals, along with survivor support groups, can be important aids to coping with bereavement.
Bereavement can be an opportunity for personal growth.
