Loss and Trauma Research Papers (original) (raw)

SUMMARY -- Grief is a universal human experience. Life is a series of gains and losses, attachments and detachments. Some are healthy and gradual while others are unhealthy and abrupt. Sudden losses, unexpected traumas, and intrusive tragedies are most difficult to handle and process. They can be disorienting, destabilizing, and devastating to the whole person, family, organization, or community. Experiencing loss, grief, and trauma is always difficult, tender, and painful. People normally avoid difficult emotions and unpleasant memories. Major losses and traumatic events come in different shapes, forms, degrees, and intensities. They generate a wide range of reactions and responses on the mental, emotional, behavioral, social, and existential levels. They also affect our mood, function, and mental outlook and impact our relationships and roles within the)…... Naturally, we assign meaning to our lives, functions, relationships, and activities. We also set certain expectations of others and ourselves. We have our hopes and dreams as well as our doubts and fears. All those shape the way we act and react, and the way we view the world. Most women, couples, and families place high value on pregnancy as a promise of continuity and a generative way to extend themselves, to reproduce and procreate, and to project life. They look at it as a celebration along the journey and as a part of many important landmarks of living. Of course, for some others, a pregnancy can be a burden or a stress if they were not in a place to welcome the idea positively and consider it as a happy development. So, they become anxious and overwhelmed and quickly look for alternatives. The degree of disappointment and sadness is usually proportionate to the degree of hope people place on the object of their expectation – and the higher the expectation, the deeper the disappointment. Similarly, the intensity of grieving reflects the nature of the relationship(s) with what has been lost. The stronger the attachment and more intimate the relationship, the more profound and more intense the grief. Ambivalence and conflicts in relationships normally produce a mixture of feelings and reactions after the separation.......