Midlife Reactions to the Death of a Loved One - Annotated Bibliography Example

Death and Dying Introduction The study of psychology has come up with conclusion concerning death and dying, where the overall discovery is that death and dying can be a source of stress for people nearing death, caregivers, and loved ones when it occurs. After the death of a loved one, the people left behind go through a change in status, otherwise known as bereavement, such as one converting to an orphan. When one experiences a behavioral reaction or response, it is referred to as mourning. When one exhibits emotional response, it is referred to as grief. However, in most cases, the general feeling or reaction is anticipatory grief, a term referring to the feeling of guilt and/or loss. In short, people react differently to death and dying across cultures, age, and mode of manifestation amongst others. This discussion text will discuss the reactions of people to death and dying in two age contexts; between ages 40 years to 60 years, and those above 60 years. Midlife reactions to death of a loved one The age between 40 to 60 years is referred to as the midlife in psychology, and is the stage where the people (mid-adults) experience the most challenging events in their lifespan. These might include parenting, divorce, unemployment, and deaths (Ito, 2013). The type of death experienced in this context is the death of a beloved parent, of which most adults respond differently to, as the discussion explains herein. The general reactions, of course varying from person to person, include inability to sleep, difficulty in socializing with others, becoming upset over thinking of the parent, painful memories about the parent, while some even go to the extent of breaking down. In addition to these, others exhibit signs of depression, extensive grief and what can be referred to as somatic responses (Stumpf, 2012). One may experience feelings such as lack of purpose in life, guilt if their relations were not as good, while for some, life seems to pause as they engage in unexplainable self-debates as to why that had to happen. There are, howevermeant of coping with the negativities that arise from parental death, which deal with each issue in its own context as highlighted below (Angela, Richard, Idan, Devon, & Stefan, 2013): Emotional breakdown By allowing one to cry and be sad, one allows the body to release tension, thus come to terms with the reality. By avoiding strategies that “numb” the emotional breakdown such as getting drunk, one learns to cope with the reality, since the breakdown escalates when the drug is ineffective. Social issues By expressing one’s genuine feelings to close acquaintances, the emotional overload is shared thus initiating the healing process. One should avoid unnecessary contact with people when they are still experiencing emotions of anger, resentment and denial as these make socializing almost impossible. When one is overly irritable and quite unable to think straight thus paralyzing dialogue or any socialization, they should be left to calm down, cry, or do what fits them best as this helps in releasing the internal tension and feelings. However, if this lingers around for too long, they might require psychiatric assistance. Cognitive approach In most cases, cognitive restoration might require the assistance of a therapist to eliminate fears such as inability to live independently without one’s parent. This can be done by creating positive and realistic strategies that push the brain back to thinking of possibilities rather than impossibilities after the separation. The other coping strategy is by assisting the bereaved to slowly take the transformation by being part of their learning to care for themselves, without the parent(s) intervention. This is done providing maximum support them gradually withdrawing so the affected slowly learns to take full control of themselves. Psychosocial approach Withdrawal is a common response by some midlife adults after parental losses. The mental breakdown extends to the social aspect, affecting both [negatively]. As such, one might require having constant company around them to ease the pain or whatever mental issues they might be having. By being around them and engaging them in energetic activities, the affected can cope with the problem. Perception of death by those in end-life stage (above 60 years) It is obvious knowledge that all of us will someday die, but worry less about it until we attain late years or end-life stage, usually from age 60 years and above. However, each one of us has their own concept of death, usually defined by past exposures, surroundings, age, and emotional development amongst others (Roetker, Yonker, Lee, Chang, Basson, Roan, Hauser & Atwood, 2012). The following context will highlight the understanding of death from the perspective of a person in their end-life stage. Emotional At their old age, most people anticipating death have different perception of what death is, and might fall into depression, stress, or other emotional mind shifts in trying to answer questions like “is death painful? Where am I going after death? What happens after I die?” For instance, a religious person may understand death as a transition to heavenly life and grow overly excited while anticipating the time, resulting in stress. Social Elderly people often live in shrinking social networks, which of them might be a manifestation of near or certain death. They might feel like burdens to others, thus choose to be alone, a case similar to withdrawal. Concisely, a shrinking social context means their dying time is nigh, and they should not receive any special care from others. Cognitive Owing to their failing systems, elderly people might perceive of their inability to learn or maintain their memories of executing tasks as an indication of their dying time’s onset. However, it is not the case since it is normal for the aged to lose cognitive abilities, but they can still live for long periods. Psychosocial Negative mental/ emotional perceptions such as feelings of worthlessness which many elderly people believe in extending to affect their social sides in negative ways as well. For instance, one might feel that they are too outdated to socialize with younger people, resulting in shunning away from social activities. For them, old age means not being useful anymore, but rather is waiting for death (Saltz, 2014). QUESTION PART B: ARTICLE SUMMARY ( Rogers, C., Floyd, F., Seltzer, M., Greenberg, J., & Hong, J. (2010, March17).“Long-term Effects of the Death of a Child on Parents’ Adjustment in Midlife”. National Institutes of Health, (2), 203-211. Introduction A lifespan defines the stages or phases which a person or thing goes through in ascending the process of life, of which each phase has its own unique attributes. The developments through the lifespan are perceived differently by different people, influenced by different factors such as age or cultural belief. Some perceive of the lifespan development as a process which begins from childhood and ends at death. As such, death, as the climax of life, must have different effects on people at every stage of life. The following essay conducts a research to evaluate on the effects of death and dying for people through the lifespan, focusing on the midlife. Method To study the understanding of death or effect of death during the midlife phase, a study was conducted, titled “The Wisconsin Longitudinal Study” in which 713 bereaved parents were compared to 713 non-bereaved parents. The aim of the study was to analyze what effect that death could have at a phase of the lifespan, which in this context was the midlife phase. The first lot of 713 selected participants was supposed to be those who had never lost any child in their lives, while the other segregation had to have lost at least one child in their lifetime. The two lots would be tested for their senses of purpose in life, depression levels, and physical well-being, after which the results would be compared. Results After the tests were conducted on all the participants, they were separated from those who had been bereaved, and the non-bereaved, and the results’ general results derived from the findings. The results found out that the parents who had been bereaved exhibited higher levels of life purpose than their non-bereaved counterparts. On the depression level tests, the same bereaved parents were found to have lower levels of depression than the non-bereaved parents, and when it came to physical wellness, still the same bereaved parents were diagnosed as being healthier than their non-bereaved counterparts. Concisely, the results showed a pattern in both categories of participants. Discussions From the analyzed results, it is evident that the parents who had undergone [traumatizing] events in some part of their life tend exhibit better stress management, are more healthy and fit, and finally have better purposes for living than their non-bereaved counterparts. The explanation for this can be given in that at one time of their lives, they experienced a tough time (child’s death), which obviously subjected them to either social, cognitive, emotional, psychosocial, or physical breakdown, or all of the above. However, it is possible that inventing means of coping rendered them resistant of more effective in dealing with such matters, thus providing for their better survival status than the other parents. The verdict may be that the non-bereaved parents, having not experienced such scenarios, are prone to effects of much smaller life’s issues, while their once-bereaved counterparts seem to be hardier. ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY Vries, B., Bluck,S., &Birren, E. (2006). The Understanding of Death and Dying in a Life-Span Perspective. The Gerontological Society of America, 3, 252-268. The authors in this article conducted a research to determine the perception and understanding of death and dying, and what effect these have on the lifespan. Fifty-four men and women were required to write essays about death and dying. The aim of the study in the article was to find out which phase of the lifespan understands more of death, and which one understands dying better. The results indicated that the participants in the middle-age bracket understood, while laying more emphasis on dying than younger participants. This article was relevant in my study in that it further explained that different phases in the life span have different understanding of death and dying in that the younger phases understand death as a narration, whereas those in the elder brackets have a closer understanding of it. Aldwin, C., &Yancura, L. (2010). Effects of stress on health and aging: Two paradoxes. California Agriculture, 4, 183-188. This article defines the paradox in the young-elderly concept in that while the aged are whom we expect to suffer from stress more often, this is not the case. The reverse applies in that younger people exhibit more signs and cases of stress. According to the authors, this is attributed to the elderly people inventing effective means of coping with stress (and other life’s issues) having been exposed to them before. The young people, they explain, are new to life’s challenges thus the struggle between them and stress leads to their exhibiting of its signs. In short, cognitive and psychological effectiveness increases with exposure or age, as it provides one with better understanding of life; death and dying included. References Angela, N., Richard, A., Idan, M., Devon, E,.& Stefan, H. (2013). The impacts of parental loss and adverse parenting on mental health: Findings from the National Comorbidity Survey-Replication. American Psychological Association, 2, 119-127. Ito, D. (2013). The Mental health consequences of losing a Parent: Does Culture Moderate the Impact of Parental Death? Sociology Dissertations, 73, 1-96. Roetker, N., Yonker, J., Lee, C., Chang, V., Basson, J., Roan, C., Hauser, R. & Atwood, C. (2012). Multi-gene interactions and the prediction of depression in the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study. BMJ, 2, 1-9. Saltz, L. (2014). The Third Act Contemplating Aging. Athens Institute for Contemporary Art, I5-29. Stumpf, K. (2012). Empirical Midlife Studies and the Backlash Against Midlife Crisis. Midlife Crisis Marriage Advocate, 2-26. Read More